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THE NORSE-FOLK 5 



OR, 



A VISIT TO THE 



Homes of Norway and Sweden. 



BY 



Charles Loring Brace, 

AUTHOR OF ''HDNGARY IN 1861," AND "HOME-LIFE IN GERMANY." 



> 




NEW YORK: 
CHARLES SCRIBNER. 

8TT AND 379 BROADWAY. 

1857. 









\ 






Entkrkd according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

CHARLES SCRIBNER, 

fn the Clerk's OflRoe of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 



^' 






W, m TIN90N, STKUBOTYPER, 4'i CENTEE ST. GBORSB KUSSELl. H CO,, PBINTKKS. 






PREFACE. 



To an American, a visit to the home of the old Northmen is a visit 
back to his forefathers' house. A thousand signs tell him he is at the 
cradle of the race which leads modern enterprise, and whose Yiking- 
power on both hemispheres l\as not yet ceased to be felt. In giving 
a sketch of a journey among the Norse-Folk, it has seeme^^o me 
that there were two sides which should most of all interest their 
descendants and kinsmen in the New World : one, the associations 
and memorials which connect them with the age when the wild energy 
of the race was transplanted to the British Islands, and even touched 
briefly in its enterprises the coasts of America ; and the other, the 
life of to-day. 

When one puts his mind into the position of reading a book of 
travels, an author should not give him instead, dry historical details ; 
still, glimpses and scenes of the past, side-views into the misty per- 
spectives of early history, suggestions, quaint superstitions, relics which 
keep the busy present in connection with a far-away time, can surely 
be properly presented in the traveller's journal. In this view, while 
I have given free play to the memories which constantly and naturally, 
through various associations, bring back the saga-period and the days 
of the early Norsemen, I have left out of view the modern history, 
glorious as it is, of the Scandinavian States. 

The main object of this book, however, is not historical, but simply 
to picture the life of to-day. It has seemed to me possible to present 
a country and its people with something of the p^sonal and living 
interest with which they come before a traveller."' When we hear 
general statements on the polity or institutions of a nation, they make, 
even on the most reflective of us, only a faint impression ; but when 
we are brought into intercourse with its persons, when we hear their 
words, see their manner, and study their habits ; when we sit at their 

iu 



iv Preface. 

tables, and mingle in their households, and become familiar with their 
current of thought, we learn, in a way not easily forgotten, the main 
features of the society and the essential life of such a people. I have 
in this book attempted to give at least faithfully what I saw in my 
sojourn in Norway and Sweden, and I hope so faithfully that the 
reader can often form his conclusion in regard to these countries 
independently of my conclusion. 

It is often a difficulty in a traveller's description, to draw a line 
between the strict privacies of life to which he is frankly intro- 
duced, and which are for him alone, and those customs and habits 
which illustrate the general life of a people. I trust I have never 
invaded the former. The names and estates of individuals are usually 
so disguised that they would be recognized with difficulty even in 
Norway or Sweden. Of public men I have given no details which are 
not known to all their countrymen. The conversations related are 
merely those which chanced on characteristic and public topics. 

Norway has been so thoroughly travelled and described of late years 
by English tourists, that I have bestowed much less space and inves- 
tigation on its peculiarities than on those of Sweden, which is yet 
a somewhat fresh field. 

Possibly, in some respects, I have spoken too favorably of the 
atter country, yet I would rather err on that side than on the other. 
No one can behold a national any more than an individual character 
accurately who does not behold it with a genial eye. Certainly in 
respect to its alleged popular vices, intemperance and licentiousness, 
there must have been in later years a vast improvement. With the 
present advance of education, the development of agriculture, the 
increase of trade, the building of railroads and telegraphs, and the 
proposed liberal measures with respect to freedom of conscience, what 
may not be accomplished yet by the modern Norsemen ? The Ameri- 
can kinsmen cannot but wish them God-speed. 

Chaeles L. Brace, 
N&vo Tork^ Aprils 1857. 



CONTENTS. 



I. — N orwa y . 

CHAPTER I. 

CHRIST IAN I A. 

A Norse Holiday — Traits of People — The City — Prince Oscar's Villa— The 
Schools — Insane Asylum — University — Students' Celebration, , . . IS 

CHAPTER II. 

A NORWEGIAN DINNER, 

The Conversation — Union — Toasts — The Dishes — Manners — Change of Opi- 
nion towards America — ^An Oration — A Gentleman's Estate — The Icelander, 21 

CHAPTER III. 

POSTING OVER THE DOVRE FJELD. 

Accoutrements — Railroad — Mjosen Lake— rVillage Hotel — First Trial of Cax- 
rioles — Scenery — Solitude — Post Stations — Fast Driving — A Head Sheriff — 
The Crops — A Mountain Pass, 82 

CHAPTER IV. 

VISIT TO A BONDER. 

Tofte — The Bonders — Our Host — The House — Furniture — The Stables — Cattle 
— Intelligence of Peasants — No Feudalism, 47 

CHAPTER V. 

POSTING. 

Jerkin — ^Description of House — Habits of People — Flowers—" Wait-money " — 
Grand Scenery — Trondhjem — Cathedral — Visits — The Schools, ... 56 

CHAPTER VI. 

TOWARD THE MIDNIGHt SUN. 

Coast Scenery — Torghattan — The Seven Sisters — Horseman's Isle — The Legend 
— Temperature — Fondal Glaciers — Malstrom — ^Lofifodens — Cod-fishery — The 
Lapps — Religious Movement — Ethnology — A Legend, 64 



vi Contents. 

CHAPTER VII. 

FINMARK AND ALTBN. 

The Steamer — ^Lady Travellers — Habits — Perpetual Day-^Greologic Appear- 
ances — Tromsoe — Acquaintances — New Religious Movement — Baptists — 
Clergymen's Salaries — Russians — Arctic Villas — Lyngen Fjord — Glaciers — 
Alten Copper Works — Catholic Mission — Temperature and Vegetation, . 80 

CHAPTER VIII. 

HAMMBRFEST. 

The Midnight Sun — The Sensation — A Sketch — Trade — Reindeer— A Monu- 
ment — Mountain-Finns, .9T 

CHAPTER IX. 

AN ARCTIC DINNER AND EXCURSION. 

A Pleasant Company — Dinner — Toasts — Chat — Walk to Lapp Encampment — 
Reindeer — A Conversation — The Lapp's Theology — Lestadius — Return — 
Supper — Coast Voyage — Molde — A Precipice, 106 

CHAPTER X. 

HE NORTHMEN. 

Their Expeditions — Causes — Battle of Harald Haarfager — Northmen in 
France — Fern-traces — Influence on England — America — History, . . 124 

CHAPTER XI. 

BERGEN. 

Institutions — Leprous Hospitals — Temperature — Appearance of People, . 134 

CHAPTER XII. 

POSTING TO OHRISTIANIA. 

Lake Journeys — Dalseidet — Grand Aspects — Rock Studies — Evanger — Posse- 
wangen — Sunday — Church Service — Costumes — Quaint Church — American- 
ized Norwegians — Hospitality, 189 

CHAPTER XIII. 

EXCURSION TO VORING FOSS. 

A Boat Journey— Vik — Soebo — Long Day's Work — Mountain Climb — The 
Fall — Grandeur of View — Return, 150 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FILE FJELD. 

Pleasures of Posting — " Going to America " — A Chasm — Rainy Day — ^Borgund 
Church— Snow-plough— A Parsonage — Talk — Superstitions — Wild Riders, . 159 

CHAPTER XV. 

A COUNTRY PASTOR, 

The House — His Wife — Conversation — Morals of Peasants — State Church — 
Honesty of People — Visit to a Bonder's — Wages, ITl 



Contents. vii 

CHAPTER XVI. 

RETURN JOURNEY TO CHRISTIANIA. 

A Country Judge — Compromise Courts — Responsibility of Judges — ^A Parson- 
age — The Deserted Tillage — Ride with an American Norwegian — Ghristiania 
— ^The Constitution — ^Norwegian Schools, ..,.,., 181 



II. — Sweden. 

CHAPTER XVn. 

GOTTENBURG. 



Bishop Thomander — Charitable Institutions — History of the City Trade — 
Statistics— The Citizens, 201 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

COTTON SPINNERS. 

Home Manufacturing — ^Night at a Patron's — ^Manners — Table Conversation — 
Hand-weavers — Their Condition, . 208 

CHAPTER XIX. 

HOME MANUFACTURES. 

An English Foreman — Factories — Peasant Manufacturers — Their "Wealth — The 
Parsonage and Squire — Conversation — New Medical Cure — MingUng of 
Habits— Statistics of Elfsborg, .217 

CHAPTER XX. 

GOTHA CANAL AND STOCKHOLM. 

The Boats — " Black Hole " — Scenery — Stockholm — Acquaintances — Museums 
— ^A Finlander — Russian War, 228 

CHAPTER XXI. 

SUNDAY IN STOCKHOLM. 

Church Forms — Restoration — Secret Confession — Religious Societies — Statistics 
of Morals — Vice — ^Explanation — Form of Prayer for the Betrayed, . . 287 

CHAPTER XXII. 

UPSALA — DALECARLIA. 

gigtuna — Upsala — University — Schools — " No Lawyers " — Old Upsala — An- 
cient Assemblies — A Scene from the Sagas — The Conversion of the People — 
Posting — Dannemora Mines — Parsonage — Furniture of Peasants' Houses — 
A Discussion — ^Ironworks — Noble Manufacturers — Orsa — Dalecarlia-Post- 
man's Theology — Lake Siljan — Conversation — "Bundling," . . . 245 



viii Contents. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

DALECABLIA. 

Member of House of Bonders — Political Talk— Great Church — Talk with Pea- 
sants — Superstitions — Law against Baptists — Visit to a Peasant — " Drop- 
ping Bread" — Farewell, 2T1 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
DALECARLIA. 

Ratwik — ^A Painting — Saga — An Old Church — Familiarity with Pastors — Cler- 
gymen in Parliament — ^Botany — ^Leksand — A Vast Congregation — The Ser- 
vice — Sunday Evening — Dance and Feast — Fahlun — Copper Mines — Sala 
Silver Mine, 282 

CHAPTER XXV. 

VINGAKER. 

A Country Gentleman — Pictures — ^Library — Conversation — Similarities of 
Language — Patrofi's Right — Politics — Country Life — Night Watchman, . 804 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE SWEDISH MANORS. 

A Country Squire — A Fairy's Tree — Rank — Castle — Private Galleries — Art of 
Dining — Customs — Lifelessness of Church — An Old Soldier — His Estate, . 814 

CHAPTER XXVn. 

THE COUNTRY GENTRY. 

Swedish House-keeping — A Visit — Bondei's — Conversation — -An Industrial 
School — Libraries for People — Distinctions of Rank — ^Marriage Costumes, . 826 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A MODEL FARM. 

drebro — Model Farm — Crops — Machines — Cattle — Success — ^Religious Efforts— 
" The Readers " — Remonstrances — The Indication, 886 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

AN OLD CASTLE. 

Society — The Saloons — ^Anecdotes — Superstitions — Dinner — Small Customs — 
Mode of Life, 845 

CHAPTER XXX. 

NORBKOPING. 

A Rencontre — Ride with a Young Nobleman — Norrkoping— Value of Manu- 
factures — Statistics, 854 

CHAPTER XXXL 

SWEDISH SCHOOLS. 

Progress — Mr. Siljestrom — School -houses — Normal Schools — Gymnastics — 
Scientific Schools — Schools of Design, 859 



Contents. ix 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

GOTTLAND. 

Wisby — Ruins — ^History — Code of Laws — Suicide Cliff — Consul Enquist — 
Scotch Farmers — Schools — Geologic Movements — Secular Elevation of 
Coast, 866 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

KALMAR AND SMALAND. 

Union of 1897 — Society — A Visit — A Law Case — A J7aZ/.condemned — Argu- 
ment — Freedom of Conscience — Visits to Bonders — Temperance Reformer — 
Liquor Law, 874 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

ACOUNTRTHOME. 

Swedish Ladies — The " French of the North " — Swedes and Norwegians — 
Witchcraft — Tomte — Puke — Necken — A Story — Modes of Life — Condition of 
Peasants — Visit to an Alderman — Commercial Storehouse — Teacliing Reli- ' 
gion, 885 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE FLEET. 

Ride to Carlscrona — Swedish Fleet — Ministry of Marine — Mercantile Marine — 
Seaman's House — Bleking — Scania — A Parish Secretary — ^Lasare • . 899 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

CASTLE L . 

The Rooms— Picture Gallery — ^Furniture — Relics — Cultivation — The Host — 
Modes of Life— Music— Talk— A Legend of 1490— The Trolls, . . . 408 

CHAPTER XXXVIL 

TABLE-TALK. 

Conversation on Lallerstedt — Schinkel's Papers — ^Discussion — ^Anecdotes of 
Bernadotte — Of Gustavus IV. — Account of Revolution^ — Cronstedt — His 
Treachery — ^Impressions — ^Benefits of Wealth — The Watchman, . . . 418 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

SOUTH SWEDEN. 

Forbud — A Modern Estate— Education of Peasants— Books for the People — 
Malmo — Lund — Cathedral — Legend — University — The " Nations," — Sweden- 
borg — Ragged School — Baron G , 429 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

CONSTITUTION OF SWEDISH CHURCH. 

Its Relation to State— Church Committees— House of Clergy— Destiny of 

Church, 444 

1* 



X Contents. 

CHAPTER XL. 

SWEDISH PARLIAMENT. 

Four Houses— Scale of Property— Statistics— Business before Parliament — 
Royal Powers — General Laws — Regency — Inequalities— Bigotry — Advan- 
tages, 4S8 

CHAPTER XLI, 

RACES IN SWEDEN. 

Tschudes — Kelts — Germanic Tribes — Goths — Suiones — Norse Tongue — Appear- 
ance of Norsemen — The Runes, 465 



III. — Denmark. 



CHAPTER XLII, 

COPENHAGEN. 

Education of People — ^Libraries — Peeling on Sound-Dues Question — Courts of 
Compromise — Maiden Assurance Companies — Thorwaldsen — His Works — 
Parentage, 477 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. 

Its Oriental Character — ^Dualism — Myths — Valhalla — The Twilight of the 
Gods — Coming of the Judge — Pinal Doom — A Forerunner, .... 489 

Appendix ^7 



I. 



Norway. 



THE lOESE-FOLK. 



CHAPTER I 



CHRISTIANIA. 



June twenty-first ! — the long summer-day, celebrated by 
the old Norse-people and the Yikings, equally with the 
shortest day, Yule, or Christmas : it is a holiday here. 
Arbors of branches are in the gardens, flowers on the 
tables, and last night bonfires were burning. To-day, busi- 
ness is abandoned ; my carriole, which was preparing for 
the journey over the mountains, must wait another day ; 
people are taking excursions, some on the water in boats, 
and some in carriages to the country. It is a beautiful 
sight, this cool fresh day, to watch the parties on the 
Fiord, from the bastions of the old fort (Aggershuus). 
There is an endless sparkle of the waters, and the gaily- 
dressed parties cross and re-cross to the little islets which 
break in picturesquely on the distant reach of the bay. 
You look down, some seven miles, through what seems a 

13 



14: TheITorse-Folk. 

chain of lakes, but which is the broken outhne of the 
Fiord, until the eye turns away from the bright glimmer to 
the shaded valleys and wooded hills that make the horizon 
on every side. 

The market-place is full of women, with bright kerchiefs 
on their heads, selling flowers and vegetables, and of little 
four-wheeled carts, with cloths and stuffs for sale. Every 
one is neatly dressed, and I have met no one intoxicated. 

The city is a neat, cheerful-looking place, with stuccoed 
houses, two stories high, placed directly on the street, as in 
the German and French villages. 

In the quarter near the Palace, there are some large, 
handsome buildings, inhabited by the wealthiest people, in 
flats, like the Berlin and Paris houses. The streets are 
lighted with gas. There is nothing in the city to especially 
distinguish it from other European cities, except the appear- 
ance of the peasants. These are marked-looking men and 
women — usually blonde, with ruddy complexion, regular 
Norman features, light hair, and faces expressing a certain 
reserved and sober strength of feeling. They have, most of 
them, powerful frames. I notice some of darker com- 
plexion, with an obliquity of eyelids, almost Mongolian — 
the same feature which struck me in the N^orwegian waiters 
on our boat from Copenhagen. Probably they have a slight 
mixture of Finnish blood. 

The town is evidently a great resort for travellers. All 
the principal shops are for strangers — filled with prints, or 
characteristic Norwegian objects ; others are crowded with 
accoutrements for carriole-travelling, and salmon-fishing. 



Prince Oscar's Hall. 15 

English is spoken everywhere, and Englishmen throng in 
every hotel. Our landlord (in the Hotel du Word) says he 
sent off fifteen English sportsmen yesterday up the country, 
each in his carriole. 

The outskirts of the city are beautiful — a broken, hilly, 
green country, with wooded roads running near the Fiord, 
and catching the most picturesque glimpses, as of mountain- 
lakes. The country-seats are very neat and comfortable in 
aspect, and the soil does not seem inferior. I see fields of 
all our Northern productions in America, except of the 
Indian corn. 

One of the sights without the city, which gives a pleasant 
ride, is the villa of Prince Oscar, the crown prince ; a 
pretty little country-seat on a rocky-point, looking out over 
the Fiord. It seemed to me the most tasteful and really 
enjoyable royal residence to be seen in Europe. A gem 
of a house. If any of our wealthy gentlemen would like 
a model for a rich little villa, they should see this. The 
furniture is all of Norwegian materials — the tables and 
chairs of exquisite polished Norwegian maple, giving a 
most original and pretty effect. The floors are parquette ^ 
of inlaid polished woods of the country. The pictures 
illustrate the Norwegian life and scenery. 

Tiedemann has there his series, representing the "Life 
of a Norwegian Feasant." Such narrative-paintings are 
usually too palpable to be interesting artistically. But 
this is so simply and skillfully managed that it is very 
effective. You are interested in the characteristic scenes 
of Norwegian peasant-life, but you are led on to the greater 



16 The Norse-Folk. 

mysteries of human life ; — ^the memories of childhood, seen 
through tears, the sunny glow, the ideal hope and passion, 
the sorrow and blank disappointment, the maturity and decay. 
I visited afterwards several studios and galleries in the 
city. There are some very pretty landscapes in these 
collections ; and works of a good quality can be got quite 
cheaply. 

INSTITUTIONS. 

The schools in Christiania seem in an advanced conditioji. 
There are one hundred and ninety-seven stationary schools 
in this diocese, beside high schools, a school of drawing 
for workmen, and a normal school for teachers, I have 
visited one Institution for vagrant and homeless girls, which 
seems excellently managed— the Eugenia Stift. An old 
spacious house is occupied by the school, with the dormi- 
tories, and various work-rooms. 

The girls work at spinning, sewing, embroidery, and 
straw-weaving within doors, and have a large garden in 
which to labor in the mild months. When they have 
been here a certain time, they are commonly sent away 
to families as servants. 

Among other institutions, I drove out to see the new 
Insane Asylum. It is a large building, and arranged on 
the best modern principles. As is usual, there are apart- 
ments for all degrees of insanity, and for different conditions 
of wealth among the patients. There is no wall about 
the asylum, and the view, at this season, is exquisite 
enough in itself to be a cure for the diseased mind. We 



InsaneAsyltjm. 17 

found in one sitting-room a very well dressed party of 
gentlemen, with billiard-table, books, piano, and various 
luxuries. They received us politely, and at our request, 
one played very prettily a modern German waltz. 

Nothing betrayed them as a company of lunatics. In 
another ward, the superintendent pointed us out a mild old 
man, bent with some previous suffering, who, he said, had 
been kept in one of the villages for fifteen years in chains I 
— so little understanding was there among the people of the 
proper treatment of this disease. I was surprised to see 
wooden bedsteads used in so complete an establishment. The 
asylum has no idiots within it, and the superintendent tells 
me that there is no institution in Norway for this most un- 
fortunate class — though he estimated their number at three 
thousand in the whole country I It was a very significant 
fact, and characteristic of Norway, that among this great 
company of insane, not love, or licentiousness, or intempe- 
rance, or disappointment, was the preponderant cause, but 
solitude — its gloom and moroseness, and above all, its unna- 
tural self-consuming lusts. 

I did not understand this effect of the mountain life 
clearly at the time — but now, after being in those vast, 
melancholy solitudes, and seeing how utterly lonely, on the 
great mountain-sides and by the rock-bounded Fiords of the 
North, thousands must live year after year in Norway, I 
can well believe that the soul may become diseased or poi- 
soned for want of its atmosphere — the society of other beings. 

I hear here, as in all the hospitals, of a new cure of a 
fearful disease, which, while it scourges the guilty, often does 



18 The Norse-Folk. 

not spare the innocent. It attracts great attention, and is 
practised by the University physician, Dr. Boeck, though 
discovered first in France. If the results of the last five 
years be continued in this gentleman's practice, the cure 
will form an era with the original discovery which checked 
the small-pox. It seems a treatment somewhat on the same 
principle ; and if I understand the subject, it is the most 
thorough application yet made of homoeopathic principles, 
though by olopathic physicians. 

Medical readers will know what I mean, when I give 
the title of the pamphlet, which has already reached the 
Smithsonian Institute, on the subject, " Die Syphilization 
der Kinder P^ 

As this is the summer vacation, I have been able to see 
but little of either the professors or students of the Univer- 
sity. The buildings are tasteful and well situated, and the 
collections, both of natural history and antiquities, seemed 
valuable. It has thirty-one professors : sixty thousand dol- 
lars per annum is the amount devoted to it by the state. 

At the present time, the students are away on an invited 
visit, with the Danish students from Copenhagen, to the 
Universities of Lund and Upsala, in Sweden. The papers 
are filled with accounts of their speeches, the reception by 
the king in his palace, and the various festivities. Though 
principally a youthful frolic, there is no doubt that the excur- 
sion is encouraged by thousands, who are seriously hoping 

* This pamphlet will also be found in the Mercantile Library, New 
York. 



The Students. 19 

sucli mutnal associations among the young men of the three 
countries, may tend to the great result so long prayed for — 
a Scandinavian Union. 

June 1856. A procession of the Fathers of the city went 
down to-day to the dock, to meet the returning students. I 
took the arm of a friend, and we made our way to the same 
point. 

We found already a crowd of thousands assembled. Not 
a man was intoxicated. There were no soldiers or police- 
men to preserve order, and my friend assured me that in 
such crowds, picking pockets was almost unknown. Every 
one was decently dressed, and the faces wore a superior, 
intelligent expression. The crowd lined the pier, and at 
length as the guns announced that the Ganger Rolf was 
coming up the Fiord, they swarmed over the schooners and 
small craft lying near, while little boats moved about to catch 
a good view of the returning steamer. 

One boy excited great admiration on my part by his skill- 
ful motions with the " Water Shoes." These are long 
wooden shoes, appearing precisely like snow shoes, except 
that they are somewhat longer, and are fastened together by 
an iron bar, about a foot apart. The boy's feet were kept 
steady on them by little iron clamps, under which he put his 
toes. His oar was a light paddle, with a blade at each end, 
so that he could whirl and strike the water, backing, turning, 
or swinging with the most beautiful ease. With this inge- 
nious apparatus, he glided over the water faster than the 
fastest row-boats near him. 



20 The Worse-Folk. 

My friend, with whom I had been speaking of the remark- 
able sobriety of the crowd, said that the new Sunday law 
had made a great difference. JSTow, no one is allowed to sell 
spirits from five o'clock Saturday evening till nine o'clock 
Monday morning. The first offense was a fine of ten 
dollars ; second, twenty, and so on, with a final chance of 
imprisonment. The informant received half. Our own land- 
lord, he said, of the Hotel du Nord, had been fined twice, 
merely for sending toddy up to gentlemen's rooms on Sun- 
day. The beer of the country— a beverage much like Lager 
Bier — is wisely excepted. 

At length our steamer drew up to the wharf, gay with flags, 
and crowded with the hundreds of students'. Cheers echoed 
on both sides, and handkerchiefs waved. The bands on 
shore struck up spirited music, and the students in procession, 
welcomed by the guilds and the societies of the city, marched 
animatedly into the town. It was a very hvely scene. 

As we walked home, passing a few soldiers, my companion 
said that a new Law would soon be in operation, which 
would make every man a soldier, and he should have to pay 
a hundred species (dollars) to get rid of it I It appears 
this is a militia law, much like our own, requiring service 
from every man, but accepting a substitute — though here 
the service would often be much heavier ; as, for instance, 
standing guard in the city, and drilling every day — while 
the fines are heavier. 

The law is probably intended to throw more of the bur- 
dens of State, especially of the army, on Norway, which has 
not yet borne a proportional part to Sweden. 



CHAPTER II. 

A NORWEGIAN DINNER. 

A GENIAL friend gave us, with some other strangers, a 
most agreeable dinner-party to-day. Some eighteen or 
twenty gentlemen and ladies were present, and the table 
was truly splendid. The language spoken was mostly 
English, (I have but one acquaintance in Christiania who 
does not speak English.) The talk was very lively. Several 
students were present, who had just returned from the great 
Excursion, one or two ISTorwegian gentlemen of distinction, 
a rough, blunt English naturalist, a distinguished Swedish 
Professor, an English salmon-fisher, and several ladies. 

"You should have seen our festiveness in Stockholm," 
said an enthusiastic young student near me. "We had 
the splendid dining-hall of the Palace, and the king hos- 
pitiated us. Nearly a thousand sat down at once. But 
those stupids — those Swedes — they seem as they had never 
seen a lady I Ah, the ladies ! Mr. B., — they really covered 
us with flower ! We had bouquets each moment I" I 
asked whether these excursions had been tried before. 
He replied that they had ; and that they had already all 
visited Copenhagen. "Do people really have much hope 

21 



22 TheI:^oese-Folk. 

for a Union?" I asked. ''No," said he, "to tell you the 
truth, I do not think they have. It is a good thing to 
write poems about, and make oratories, but for a fact^ 
I must confess," and he shrugged his shoulders, " we have 
no very high respects for either Sweden or Denmark." 

" He has reason ;" said an old gentleman near me — a 
politician. '' We are a democratic country, and we could 
never unite with any other country, except on the freest 
Constitution. Besides, there would be practical hindrances 
— where the capital to put, and how raise the common 
revenues ? The benefits would by no means be so great 
to us as to Denmark : — she needs Union to save her. She 
must in years fall to pieces — losing Holstein, and having 
the Sound-dues capitalized, and becoming into quarrels 
through the change of succession," 

" But you speak of Union — ^you have one now with a 
monarchy." 

"Yes, that is true — but it is really only a union in name. 
We have our own Storthing, and our laws, and our soldiery 
— and not a King of Sweden ever will dare to lay fingers 
on them. We were obliged to unite under Carl Johan, 
when all Europe was against us ; but even he never dared 
to attack long our hberties— but listen — there is a toast 
for you 1" 

Our host, though we were only on the second course, 
rose for a toast, and in a neat little English speech, pro- 
posed the health of the " American guest," and deprecated 
the unnatural and horrible contest into which the two 
countries of England and America seemed about to enter. 



Th eOoueses. 23 

The company drank, and bowed to me, and I replied. 
After this, a succession of toasts was kept up in a much 
more formal manner, than would be customary with us, 
or on the Continent. The Enghsh and N^orwegian habits 
in this seems to express a more dignified hospitality than 
ours. 

The dishes were peculiar. The second course after soup 
was ham cut up, and peas, passed about, and tongue with 
kraut ; the third, lobsters boiled ; the fourth asparagus ; 
the fifth, salmon ; sixth, chickens and mutton cut up and 
handed to each by the servants ; then custards, fruit and 
cakes, with claret, hock, champagne, sherry, port, etc., etc. 

In the drinking of healths, my neighbor whispered that 
he never filled his glass, and so escaped too much wine. 
The old custom was for each to empty his glass, which 
is fast going into disuse. The Norwegian cookery seems 
excellent, with much use of cream in the dishes. 

In the course of the conversation, the subject of America 
came up, and our Swedish Professor said a very good thing. 

They were speaking of the State-Church — and of the 
experiment of separation in our country. "The truth is," 
said one gentleman, " nothing can be learnt from the 
American Free Church System — America is too young. 
What is her whole age against two thousand years ? it 
is a mere day!" " But," said the Swede with a fine ex- 
pression, '' how do we know that these two thousand years 
are not a mere day, compared with the whole coming 
human history I America has little to learn from the 
past." 



24 The Noese-Folk. 

After a little, the talk turned to the subject of Slavery, 
and the recent disgraceful and cowardly assault by Brooks 
upon Senator Sumner. The words spoken were such as- 
would be good for our people to hear — scathing, indignant 
words at such ruffianly brutality. Much further interest- 
ing conversation was kept up on American affairs, show- 
ing a thorough understanding of our difficulties and strug- 
gles. 

At length we arose and took our ladies to the drawing- 
room, each bowing to his companion, and then shaking 
hands with the host, with the words " Tak for madP^ — 
(thanks for the meal !) The gentlemen then retreated to 
the library to smoke, while coffee was brought. 

It is very evident, as I converse with people here, and in 
other parts of N^orthern Europe, that a great change has 
come over the popular feeling towards America, since I was 
last on the Continent, five years ago. Then America was 
the ideal everywhere to free-thinking and aspiring men. The 
oppressed looked hopefully to it ; the philosopher found the 
confirmation of his theories of human liberty there ; the 
hard-working, the politically degraded, the idealists, the 
struggling masses, felt that the Western Republic was espe- 
cially for them, and even if they could never share its privi- 
leges, they were happy that humanity had at length looked 
on such a glorious effort. The reports of the common free- 
dom, of the education of the masses, of the high morality 
prevailing, came over even exaggerated, and silenced the 
enemies of popular rights, and converted many doubtful. 
One felt the effect of all this, as a traveller. You .were not 



EukopeanOpinion. 25 

alone ; yoa were the representative of the best thoughts and 
aspu'ations of mankind. The warm hand grasping yours, 
welcomed not you, but a nation of freemen. The rich did 
not condemn, because property and person had been bet- 
ter shielded under the Republic, than under European 
monarchies. The poor, the laborers, were especially your 
friends, for was not your land the very land which ele- 
vated labor ? 

All this is quite different now. You are treated politely 
as a stranger ; or you are welcomed more or less for what 
you personally are, but for your country, among the populace 
you get no welcome. The glory has departed. 

Within five years, various circumstances have opened the 
eyes of Europe to our real situation, and, as often happens, 
the people see nothing but our sins. We are simply nov/ a 
tricky, jobbing, half-barbaric people, where the worst politi- 
cal corruption of the Old World exists without its refine- 
ment ; and where brutality, rowdyism, and unlimited despot- 
ism have in certain quarters free play. Our politicians and 
diplomats are despised ; our Constitution is sneered at, as 
inflicting upon us the -most disgraceful legislators ; and the 
laboring class and the democrats know that within our limits, 
a more abominable tyranny over labor and free speech and 
thought exists, than the worst despotisms of the Continent 
ever exhibited. There is nothing now in our situation to 
dazzle the world. They see with clear eye our blackest 
sins and our miserable political jobbing. 

To-day a leader appears of some length in the Christiania 
" Aften Bladet^^ with the following mild opening — '' The 

2 



B6 The ISTorse-Folk. 

scandal in the North American Senate, which has roused 
such feelings of excitement, it appears to us, in its treatment 
by the Senate, the press, and the public meetings, shows a 
greater degree of general brutality, even than the scene 
itself between Brooks .and Sumner." 

Then it gives us the scene between Mr. Wilson and Mr. 
Butler, where the latter says, " You are a liar," and follows 
this by quoting at length two atrocious articles, disgraceful 
to South Sea Islanders, from the Richmond Whig and the 
Examiner, approving of the assault. It closes with a sar- 
castic remark, on the respect due to American institu- 
tions. 

For my own part, unpleasant as the change is in the 
•public sympathy and respect for us, I am glad of it. We 
have had the world's applause too long. We need the 
frown. Besides, how can men in distant countries and 
engaged in petty questions of state or commerce, judge on 
those mighty struggles, whose scum only appears on the 
surface of American affairs I 

Yet never does one love his country so as in hearing this 
universal voice of condemnation. At home, you do not 
think much of patriotism. But when you see from a dis- 
tance the grand nature of the experiment made in your 
country, and when you behold the dark storms that 
threaten, you say, as you never could say before, " I be- 
long to her, and with her fall, will I fall." 

We went out from our dinner-party, about 8 o'clock, to 
see a meeting of the students in the little park, to celebrate 



Union. 27 

their return. A considerable crowd of the young men and 
the professors were assembled, nearly all smoking vigorously. 
Just outside the slight palings and hedge, a great concourse 
of the town's people had gathered, watching the proceed- 
ings. It was characteristic that these never once offered to 
intrude, though there was nothing to prevent them, except 
a few students' marshals. The first exercises were some 
spirited chorus-songs from the crowd of young men ; then 
one of the professors followed, with an extemporaneous ora- 
tion. It was delivered with a great deal of fire and enthu- 
siasm — recounting the interesting points of their visit, and 
glorifying the idea of Scandinavian Union — picturing the 
possible future, when the three nations, even more than in 
the old Kalmar Union, would form a united whole, and 
become the great barrier to Russian invasion, and a State 
of influence in the world. These sentiments were received 
with great applause. 

Other speeches followed, to the same effect, with more 
songs. I met a Danish gentleman in the crowd, and we 
spoke of the oration. He admitted that the idea of union 
was very popular, but thought, as do all, that practical dif- 
ficulties were in the way — there were now such great dissim- 
ilarities in the characters of the peoples, and in the forms of 
their government — each had so much jealousy and dislike 
of the other — the Norwegians were democratic, rough, and 
practical ; the Danes more reserved, refined, and ideal. 
Still, he confessed, a union w:as almost indispensable to 
Denmark. 



^8 The Norse-Folk. 

June — th. — One of my friends drove me out to-day, to 
see the beautiful environs of Christiania. There is some- 
thing in the aspect of the ' country which reminds me of 
scenery in Maine : the broken coast of the Fiord, with Uttle 
wooded islets — the pine-covered hills in the distance, and 
the warm, green valleys by the streams. It is a warmer and 
more genial scenery than I should have expected in Norway. 

A gentleman whom my friend knew, overtook us on our 
ride, mounted on a beautiful blood-horse. 

They saluted formally, and at his hearty invitation, we 
turned to pay him a visit. We entered his place through a 
pleasant avenue, and came in on a little square of low, neat 
buildings, with a bell-tower over one, giving a pleasant effect 
of grouping about it to the cluster of houses. We were 
shown to a comfortable sitting-room, and after a short chat, 
our host most kindly gave us a glimpse of his house. There 
were numbers of fine rooms opening into each other — the 
bed-rooms being usually on the ground floor. The guest- 
chamber had its own sitting-rooms adjoining. There was 
one large dancing-saloon. Scarcely any of the rooms were 
carpeted, but the furniture was tasteful and comfortable. 
The kitchen was below, a good spacious room, as it should 
be. The only Norwegian peculiarity was a great covering, 
like a roof, reaching out over the brick-range, serving as a 
funnel or ventilator to carry off smoke and smells — not a 
useless invention for our American kitchens. 

The most marked thing about the house was the great 
extent of it, through building on laterally rather than perpen- 
dicularly, as an American would do. 



A Visit. 29 

The gentleman took ns also out to his grounds, and his 
barns and farm-houses, which were large brick buildings 
with pointed gables. In a pretty arbor of beech he sat us 
at a table, and a servant brought champagne. At part- 
ing, a servant opened the carriage-door, and he himself stood 
with head uncovered, bowing repeatedly to us. Norway is 
certainly opening in Christiania, most courteously and agree- 
ably. 

AN ICELANDER. 

June — tk. — I called to-day on a student, from Iceland, a 
thorough scholar in the old Norse Literature. After a few 
words, he said, with a fine enthusiasm, speaking English. 
" Ah, sir, — I love your country and your folk. .You are the 
true descendants of the Norsemen. I see more of the quali- 
ties of our old Vikings in your country than I do anywhere 
in Scandinavia, or England. Even your vices are the vices 
of the Vikings — ^how like ! — you love so t^e adventure, and 
the sea-water life, and to be uncontrolled. The filibusters, 
as you do call them, they are modern vikinger !" 

I agreed, but hoped we should imitate the descendants of 
the Vikings, and free our villains and serfs. 

His face had a beautiful spiritual, enthusiastic expression, 
and he said sadly, " Yes ! it is to hope ! God will surely so 
guide you. The Northmen were, it is true, sea-pirates, but 
they always planted free institutions wherever they settled, 
and left things better than they found. You have a horri- 
ble — I know not if you have the Icelandic word — thralldom 
there ; but the blood of the Northmen leads to freedom. 



30 TheNoese-Folk. 

You and the Norse-folk are tlie only ones in history, 
where the individual does so venture every thing. Look at 
your first settlers and at your sea-captains and discoverers, 
and now at Walker ! It is, sir, the old blood. Do you re- 
member the description of the Yikings and of Gauka Thorer, 
in the Heimskringla.* You do have a translation, I believe. 
Yours are the men, who have the faith above all in them- 
selves." 

I inquired about Iceland and its present condition. He 

* THE SEA-KING. 

The hero who knows well to ride 
The sea-horse o'er the foaming tide, — 
He who in boyhood wild rode o'er 
The seaman's horse to Scania's shore, 
And showed the Danes his galley's bow, 
Eight nobly scours the ocean now. 
On Scotland's coast he lights the brand 
Of flaming war ; with conquering hand 
Drives many a Scottish warrior tall 
To the bright seats in Odin's hall. 

GAUKA THORER. 

The King said, " And I have a great inclination to take such ; but 
are ye Christian men ?" 

Gauka Thorer repHes, that he is neither Christian nor heathen. " I 
and my comrades have no faith but on ourselves, our strength, and 
the luck of victory ; and with this faith we slip through sufficiently 
well." 

The King replies, " A great pity it is that such brave slaughtering 
fellows did not believe in Christ their Creator." 

Thorer replies, " Is there any Christian man, king, in thy follow- 
ing, who stands so high in the air as we two brothers." — Laing's 
Translation, 



TheIcelandek. 31 

represented it as discontented with its connection with 
Denmark, and ready to accept almost any other foreign 
government. It still produced, he said, many students 
and scholars, who mostly went to the University of Copen- 
hagen. 

I found we had an equal admiration for the old Icelandic 
literature, though I knew it only by translation. A new 
German translation of the Eddas, by Simrock, which I 
had with me, he pronounced one of the very best yet made, 
preserving the alUteration admirably. 

He attached very little historic authority to the sagas 
which Snorro Sturleson collected of times before the tth 
and 8th centuries. The saga of the discovery of America 
by the Northmen, he, as most scholars, considered to be 
based in fact, especially as it is conjoined with the saga- 
accounts of Greenland and its occupation, which recent 
investigations by the Danish government into the remains 
of the early settlements have fully confirmed. His theory 
of the settlement of Iceland was peculiar — that colonists 
from Ireland and the adjacent islands, first occupied the 
island, and these were succeeded by Norwegian Northmen.* 

* One of the old sagas relates that a celebrated Icelandic chieftain 
had his son taught Irish, " that nothing should be wanting to him, 
if he should ever come to Ireland!" 



CHAPTER III. 

POSTING OVER THE DOVRE FIELD. 

Christiania, to most travellers, is merely a waiting-place. 
People are always preparing in it, and questioning, and 
investigating as to the perils and trials of the unknown 
journey in the interior. My perplexities were somewhat 
increased, by having now a lady to provide for — my wife 
having joined me by steamer from Hull — and for a woman's 
travelling in Norway, there seems not the slightest pro- 
vision. One thing was clear, that beyond the railway and 
the Mjosen Lake, there was no public conveyance, except 
a kind of peasant's dog-cart. But whether to hire a double 
carriage, or a chaise, or carrioles, or to buy one or any 
of these, was the problem. A carriage and driver to Trondh- 
jem alone would come to about sixty dollars. Luckily we 
had an honest reliable landlord, who spoke English, to 
whom I most cordially recommend all distressed travellers, 
starting for the unknown journey through Norwegian 
mountains. Mr. Halvorsen, the landlord of the Hotel du 
Nord, remember ! After exploring everything else, I took 
his advice precisely, and it turned out the very best. In 
fact, no other vehicle would have done at all. I bought 

32 



Pkepaeations. 33 

two new light carrioles, for seventy dollars, with the privi- 
lege of returning them at the end of the journey, and 
receiving fifty-five dollars back, if they were uninjured. 
Of these interesting vehicles, more hereafter. Our equip- 
ment was also very carefully provided ; and, as I trust, 
in a few years, a summer-trip over the mountains of Nor- 
way will be as common and popular to Americans, as 
now is a journey to the Springs, I will give it. Baggage, 
a small valise each, with thick covers (the best is oil-skin), 
and straps to fasten them under the post-boy's seat. The 
gentlemen must have an India-rubber poncha, very light, 
slouched hat, thick shawl, thick over-coat and shoes, and 
clothes very strong, with walking-stick and wallet and a 
leathern-bag for small silver and copper coin. This last 
indispensable. The lady, a water-proof cloak with hood 
(an excellent article called aqua-scutum, can be obtained 
in London), blanket-shawls, stout leather boots (India- 
rubbers for change) ; warm winter clothing, and a wallet 
for tea, and guide-books, etc., etc. One bonnet, I am in- 
structed, with change of trimmings ! 

The great object being to have everything as compact 
as possible, and to be prepared for the hardest treatment, 
that clothes, luggage, vehicle, and externals can pos- 
sibly sustain, for the dust, heat, mud, rain, snow, and 
bitter cold. Nothing that is taken in the way of garments, 
it should be remembered, will ever come back in wearable 
condition. For stores, if the party be inclined to dyspepsia, 
take portable soup and biscuit, and in any case, tea. T 
took no brandy or wine, but those who need them should 

2* 



34: TheISTorse-Folk:. 

be reminded that the country inns have nothing of the 
kind. 

June . — As usual, too late in starting ; nobody in the 

Christiania Hotel in the least hurry — the landlord quietly 
observing as we leave the house, while he looks at his watch, 
that he thinks we cannot possibly reach the train, though 
he knows we have been waiting already two days beyond 
our time. Our rosy-faced commissionaire who had negoti- 
ated for the carrioles, starts them off at the same time with 
ourselves. The clock in the Station already points the 
hour ; the rooms for the first and second classes are 
crowded with people — sportsmen in grey shawls, and Cali- 
fornia hats ; travellers in oil-skin sou'-westers ; gentlemen 
of business, soldiers and ladies — all gathering parcels, call- 
ing for tickets, and hurrying to and fro. 

The commissionaire puts the carrioles aboard the freight 
cars, and I buy the tickets in agonizing haste ; but there is 
not the slightest occasion for it. Our railroad, like every- 
thing else in Norway, takes its time. We seat ourselves in 
a second-class carriage, dispose the bundles — but finding two 
pipes already beginning to smoke, in different parts of it, 
change to a first-class before there is any indication of the 
train's starting. At length the guard, evidently from his 
face an Englishman, locks the door and we are off. Our 
car is entirely English, even more comfortable than many 
English first-class carriages, and we have the cushioned ht- 
tle compartment entirely to ourselves. The scenery on the 
route is much like that of a New-England railroad — long, 



Raileoad. 35 

sloping, pine-coTered Mis, glimpses of rivers and white foam 
through trees, green rye fields and pastures, and here and 
there a log-house, or little village of red houses. Time, 
about eighteen miles an hour ; length, forty-two miles. 

This road has been built in great part by the aid of 
English capital, at the cost of fifty thousand dollars per 
mile. Part of the directors reside in England. It pays 
only about three per cent, on the whole stock, but is 
increasing daily in business. From the connection with the 
steamer on Lake Mjosen, it is enabled to gather in the pro- 
ducts and passengers from a considerable back country, per- 
haps one hundred and fifty miles in extent. It is the only 
railroad in Norway. Another is much talked of now, which 
shall connect Norway and Sweden, by Kongsvinger on the 
Glommen, to the northeast of Christiania. 

This road ends at Eidsvold. Here we found a very com- 
fortable, sensible sort of station ; boats were in waiting to 
take the passengers to the steamer — none of our frail, 
modern boats, but broad, substantial Norsk vessels — into 
which carrioles, luggage, and passengers can be dumped 
without inconvenience. Four carrioles and one low-wheeled 
carriage for two horses were taken up by crane and rope on 
the front deck of the steamer. For the two vehicles and 
ourselves the fare of the ferry was sixteen cents. No one 
put himself out, and in about two hours everything was 
aboard, and we were under weigh. 

As I already find in Norway, charges are low, and no one 
seems to wish to take advantage of you. (N. B. — Two per- 
sons have returned me change to-day, overpaid.) 



36 The Hokse-Folk. 

A polite Norwegian gentleman, travelling by post to 
Trondhjem, has taken us in charge, and by his thorough 
kindness we get on admirably. He says that the carriage 
on board belongs to one of the Bonders,* or peasant farmers 
on the Lake — the wealthiest class in Norway. 

The scenery of Lake Mjosen is not at all remarkable — 
pretty and gentle with green hills sloping far to the water, 
sprinkled over with little brown or black houses. A great 
deal of cultivation is visible, and constantly small villages 
of neatly-cut log houses come in sight, where the steamer 
stops — on the whole, the scene is much like Lake Cham- 
plain or Lake George. 

Every thing is done in the easiest way possible. Broad 
boats pull leisurely off, the boatmen raise their hats, the 
sailors raise their caps, passengers bid polite adieus, and 
calmly smoking step into the boats. A passenger is putting 
on his coat, and the man at the wheel leaves the helm to 
help him get it on. The carriage is swung off into a large 
scow-boat ; a gentlemanly-looking man receives it, and pulls 
off with sweeps, and does not even take off his coat. When 
last seen, the current has taken him quite below the landing- 
place, and the boat seems much too heavy for him, but he 
labors on undisturbed. 

The men one sees are tall, florid, vigorous-looking, but 
generally spare in the face — blond, with wrinkled face near 
the eyes, and often, with what I observed in Christiania, a 

* I shall adopt this English version of the Norwegian word Baen- 
der, as better than any translation. 



The Pass ENQ-EES. >;3T 

slight obliquity in the eyelids. The nose is regular, and is a 
little raised in line. 

There are not many passengers in the cabin — a few Danish 
ladies coming to the Lake for a pleasure trip, and to see a 
Norwegian Soeter or mountain pasture, one or two Norwe- 
gians, and two English sportsmen, salmon-fishers. These 
last are desperately bored, and one — generally in the finest 
scenery — turns his face to the wall and sleeps. They left 
England because they were so bored ; and they find this 
almost as bad, though once in the mountains they hope for 
sport. 

The Lake is only sixty-three miles long, but we did not 
reach the town at the end, Lillehammer, before eleven o'clock 
in the evening. It was still bright daylight ; a crowd of 
boys were on the pier — there was no shouting or excitement 
— ^boys raise their caps, we raise ours^ — the little carrioles are 
lifted up by the cranes on the dock. In a few moments, 
small Norwegian ponies are harnessed to them and we drive 
towards our inn. 

It was very important that evening, that I should see a 
gentleman, to whom I had especial letters — the principal 
magistrate of the province. It was half past eleven at night, 
though still only a pleasant twilight, and with some trepida- 
tion I drove to his house. He was up with his ladies in the 
drawing-room, and welcomed me, just as if it was a seasona- 
ble hour in the afternoon. He spoke English. I desired only 
to state my objects, and not further to detain them— but he 
would not hear of it. The guest must at least break bread 
with them. Some refreshments were brought, and he was 



38 The Norse- Folk. 

gone for a few moments, while I chatted with the ladies. 
He had said so little, and used so few ceremonies, and I had 
made such a strange intrusion, that I should not have been 
surprised at his getting rid of me on the easiest terms. But 
on the contrary, he had been showing me the most thorough 
kindness — a sort of English-like politeness which comes right 
to the point of your wishes, and serves you without words in 
the most direct way. In those few minutes, he had prepared 
a plan of travel and given me directions to various parties 
through the country, which saved me afterwards weeks of 
useless labor. They drank a parting health, and bade a 
warm good-bye, and the hostess handing me a bouquet of 
roses for the lady traveller, we separated, much to my regret. 

Our hotel was a droll little place. The rooms seemed to 
be arranged en suite, so that I had to pass through one with 
two couples in different beds, and one with a single gentle- 
man, before I reached mine, and in that, the door would 
neither lock nor shut. When such accidents began in Nor- 
way, I always put my purse anxiously under my pillow, but 
soon gave up all that. You very soon see that you are 
among the most honest people in the world. 

An English gentleman, a year or two ago, in travelling 
from Trondhjem to Christiania, tied his 'porte-monnaie — which 
is a large leather bag for carrying the quantity of little sil- 
ver money necessary — on the back of his carriole, and lost 
out fourteen or fifteen sovereigns on the road. He wrote on 
arrival at Christiania, to the country judges, and in a few 
days had every one of the sovereigns returned to him. They 
had been picked up by the peasants, and handed to the ma- 



TheCakeiole. 39 

gistrates, who sent them on to the owner. We are con- 
stantly meeting similar little instances of honesty. People 
take money whenever offered, but they always seem content 
with a little ; and if they are convinced that they over- 
charge, they are usually willing to take off a portion. 

At half past four in the morning, the servant girl was at 
my bedside with a cup of good coffee and delicious cream ; 
and in a little time we were safely fastened into our carrioles. 

Your first experience in a carriole is no joke. The sen- 
sation over a pebbly road is as if your teeth would be 
shaken out. 

The morning was a glorious one. We wound along the 
back of a giant-hill, with a deep spacious valley beneath, 
and a stream rushing through far below in the bottom. 
The sun-beams fell across in great breadths of light ; the 
grass and grain-fields were sparkling with dew, and distant 
perspectives, with blue mountains and ponderous pine- 
covered hills in the foreground, opened before us. Every- 
thing was still, and pure, and grand, but yet it was not 
satisfactory. The carrioles seemed like to shake our brains 
to pieces ; heads and necks became almost dislocated. 
After half an hour's travel, we were as tired as if it had 
been a day's. We agreed that Norway was grand, but 
this would never do. At length, the lady gives out, and 
is handed over to a public carriage which runs up a few 
miles, while one of the English salmon-fishers agrees to 
drive her carriole. 

This vehicle, the American reader should understand, 
belongs to the general species of our New York ''sulkies" 



40 The Norse-Folk. 

for fast trotting. It is a single cushioned-seat, just fitted 
for the person, with a little strip of wood reaching in 
front to a narrow dash-board, and swings on a pair of 
ashen shafts between the horse's back and the single pair 
of wheels. A leathern apron closely fastened to the seat 
covers the front part, in which your feet can be stretched. 
The dash-board has a bag for your wallet, and a place 
on which to tie umbrellas. The luggage must be tied on 
or under a little seat behind, where the post-boy sits. It 
is the lightest thing imaginable, for a man to ride in, 
and has the advantage of being easily taken to pieces, 
when you come to a lake or Fiord, and put into boats. 

This beginning with the carrioles was not at all a fair 
instance. The road was stony, and we were not accus- 
tomed to them. We soon became used to the motion, 
and over the perfect Norwegian roads it became a luxury 
to travel in them. Indeed, the great temptation was to 
hurry on too much. The little Norwegian horses whirl 
one on at such a rate, and it is so pleasant to have the 
union of grand scenery enjoyed at your leisure, with this 
excellent driving, that you are for ever getting on. The 
night, too, almost as bright as the day, is so tempting. 
You come to have a kind of mania for making the station 
(usually six or seven miles), in the three-quarters. Every 
one you meet has the same mania. Our two English 
salmon-fishers, who had nothing in the world to do, were 
hurrying this day, as if their life depended on it. We 
ourselves, with all the unpromising beginning, posted eighty- 
six miles before midnight. 



The Scenery. 41 

The scenery to-day in the Gulgdbrandsdal has been im- 
pressive, yet hardly equal to my expectation. The aspects 
have scarcely been bold and grand enough. Perhaps 
the finest effect was in the sensation just hinted at, the 
fresh exciting feeling of travelling through constantly new 
scenes of such lonely beauty, the idea of continuousness 
of enjoyment in Nature, as if for days to come, she would 
open successive pictures to you. 

Then the silence ! 

The old Scandinavian Mythology placed among its 
deities, the god Yidar, son of Odin, who dwells in Land- 
vidi, or the " Boundless Land." He is called by the poets, 
the Silent. He represents the imperishability of Nature. 
Of him, Thorpe says, "Who has ever wandered through 
such forests, in a length of many miles, in a boundless 
expanse, without a path, without a goal, amid their mon- 
strous shadows, their sacred gloom, without being filled 
with deep reverence for the sublime greatness of Nature 
above all human agency, without feeling the grandeur of 
the idea which forms the basis of Yidar's essence !" 

One feels him still in those grand, silent mountain-valleys 
of Norway. 

JOURNAL. 

June . — StoJion E. — One o'clock. — ''Six miles iu 

fifty-five minutes. Good ! Hestenel StraxP^ (Horses ! right 
away 1) These are the two magical words. You unbundle 
yourself, jump out, and rush into the farm-house for refresh- 
ments. Everything is very cheap — a breakfast, with deli- 



42 The]^orse-Folk. 

cious coffee, for sixteen or twenty cents. The cream seems 
scarcely ever made into butter, but to be used at once for 
coffee and tea, and in cooking. Butter is usually poor, and 
often imported — a singular instance of Norwegian want of 
economy, still a by no means disagreeable fact to a travel- 
ler. One favorite dish is sour cream, eaten with sugar. 

These stations are kept up by the peasants by law, and 
they are obliged to have horses ready, and to furnish 
refreshments. Every charge is fixed by legal enactment. 
We pay at the " fast stations" — i. e., stations where horses 
must be kept ready — almost thirty-one cents for seven miles, 
which, with a small gratuity to the post-boy, makes the 
expense of posting about five cents a mile. Every station 
has a "Post-book," with the law in regard to the rates of 
posting, the fines, etc., etc. Each traveller is expected to 
put his name in the book, and if he has a complaint to 
lodge against the postman or the fare of the house, he does 
it in these books. The horses trot wonderfully well. We 
have passed one stage, of eleven miles and three-fourths, in 
an hour and five minutes — most of it down hill, however. 

A Norwegian gentleman has been travelling with us, and 
at first, it was almost frightful to see him, when reaching a 
hill^ummit, suddenly disappear, and then, on coming our- 
selves there, to find him plunging at tremendous speed far 
down the slopes below. 

But we have soon become used to this habit of Norwe- 
gian driving, and whirl down the hills at fearful rate. We 
hardly hold the reins in at all — the little horses managing 
all, without ever stumbling. 



AnOfficial. 43 

Station M. — We have just visited a singular little Lu- 
theran church, built of logs, and entirely covered with large 
square pieces of slate, instead of boarding. The nave 
crosses the transept at right angles in the centre. The 
inside is furnished with plain wooden seats ; the altar is 
ornamented with old gilt carving, and it has a painting and 
candles. A little model of a ship, a foot or two long, hangs 
over the aisle. The churches we have passed are very pictur- 
esque — painted red or brown, with pointed white spires, some- 
times with several parts, built one upon the other in a pleas- 
ing proportion. We have passed one, an octagon in shape. 
I had a letter to the Head Sheriff of this district, and 
have enjoyed a very pleasant conversation with him. As 
usual, the Norwegian officials seem really the first men in 
the community. This gentleman, who spoke English well, 
was a person of singular dignity and intelligence. With 
reference to the education of the country districts, he states 
that owing to the scattered dwellings of the population, 
they cannot have many fixed schools, so that the schoolmas- 
ter goes from house to house, and gathers in each, the chil- 
dren of the nearest neighbors. Their pay is only a few 
dollars a month. The higher classes must have tutors for 
their children or send them to the towns. The churches are 
equally scattered — -still, the people, he thinks, very faithful 
in their attendance. The morality of the country he con- 
siders much improved since the working of the Temperance 
Societies in Norway. Wine is still drank at tables, but 
brandy has been much abandoned, and intemperance is 
uncommon. 



44: The Nokse-Folk. 

I learn from this gentleman, that there are a certain 
number of Norwegian families who are confirmed gipsies in 
habits. They are mostly the descendants of a vagabond 
populatioD, which was scattered over Europe, after the 
Thirty Years' War. They wander from one end of the 
land to the other, stealing and begging, and have scarce 
any settled home. There is a police-book, with the names 
of every one. An antiquarian of Christiania, Mr. Sundt, 
has written a curious book upon this class, the Fante. We 
have, thus far, hardly seen a beggar. 

The cultivation along the road has been good to-day — the 
crops mostly rye, oats, and barley. In some fields, water 
had been brought from the hills above, in wooden troughs, 
and men, in the universally worn red caps, stood with ladles 
and sprinkled it over the ground. The tops of the hills are 
covered with forest, while the lower slopes are cultivated, 
and dotted with brown log-houses. These are nearly always 
groups, arranged in square, of four or six houses — one as 
the dwelling, one the kitchen, one for guests, and the rest 
for "the creatures," as the Norwegians, Yankee-like, call 
the cattle. We pass no villages, yet', on the whole, the 
country must be populous. All the houses have flowers in 
the windows. The roads are very good, of stone, covered 
with gravel. The fences are of poles, inclining between two 
cross-bars. 

Station F. — We have just met two English sportsmen, in 
carrioles. We not only did not salute, but there was scarcely 
a look on their side, even of curiosity — hardly more than if 
we had met in Regent's Park. The country-people gen- 



A Mountain-Pass. 45 

erally lift their hats to us. We meet only a few persons 
travelling, and they are usually in rough carrioles. We find 
that the lady-traveller makes a great sensation among the 
peasants. And, indeed, what with the capote and out-flying 
travelling-costume, and the comical little vehicle dashing 
along the roads, under female hands, we cannot help having, 
ourselves, a good laugh occasionally at the droll aspect. 

The people at the inns find a woman from America a 
great curiosity ; they examine her dress, price every article, 
and ask innumerable questions. Yet they are all exceed- 
ingly civil and attentive, though apparently a little per- 
plexed at the wants of modern civilization. 

Station L. — Not far from this station where we are pass- 
ing the night, we rode through the narrow way, where more 
than two centuries ago, an ill-fated army of Scotchmen was 
crushed to death by rocks and stones, rolled down from the 
mountain above by the peasants. They were allies of Gus- 
tavus Adolphus in his war with Denmark, and were making 
a bold cross-march over Norway to Sweden, when they 
were suddenly destroyed. As we passed, a dark storm was 
covering the sky, and there was a desolate gloom and wild- 
ness over the spot. 

It is a sombre, fearful way, even on the new road, which 
Norwegian enterprise has constructed. A simple monument 
of stone, with an inscription, marks the spot, where Sinclair 
and his brave comrades fell. 

Our hotel is also in a desolate pass ;— not a house in 
sight, only a turbulent river and an immense bare mountain 
side, with hardly a tree to hide its barrenness. We sit by 



4:6 TheISTorse-Folk. 

the great roaring kitdaen-fire. The bed-rooms are large 
unpainted boarded rooms, approached bj a stairway on the 
outside of the house ; water for the morning is brought in a 
black wine bottle I Yet every thing is very clean and neat, 
and the people are anxious to please. 



CHAPTER IV. 



A VISIT TO A BONDER. 



Tofte — . A bit of the old Saga history belongs here — a 
glimpse of the Norwegian Kings : 

" King Harald (Haarfager), one winter, went about in guest-quarters 
in Upland, and had ordered a Christmas feast to be prepared for him 
at the farm Thopte (from Tofte). — On Christmas eve came Swase to 
the doOr, just as the king went to table, and sent a message to the 
king to ask if he would go out with him. The king was angry at 
such a message, and the man who brought it in took out with him a 
reply of the. king's displeasure. But Swase, notwithstanding, desired 
that his message should be delivered a second time ; adding to it that 
he was the Laplander whose hut the king had promised to visit, and 
which stood on the other side of the ridge. Now the king sent out, 
and promised to follow him, and went over the ridge to his hut, 
although some of his men dissuaded him. There stood Snaefrid, the 
daughter of Swase, a most beautiful girl ; and she filled a cup of 
mead for the king — but he took hold both of the cup and of her 
hand." 

The saga goes on to tell, in rather plain language, that he 
fell passionately in love with her, and finally married her, for- 
getting, such was his passion, both his crown and dignity. 

Tofte is one of the old Royal stations. In the chronicle 

47 



48 The NoESE Folk. 

of King Eysten, who reigned about 1120, the king is repre- 
sented as having a great dispute with King Sigurd, in their 
guest-quarters, as to the good deeds of each. Sigurd relates 
his crusades, but Eysten, among other improvements which 
he describes himself as making, says, " The road from Dron- 
theim goes over the Dovrefield, and many people had to 
sleep out of doors, and make a very severe journey : but I 
built inns, and supported them with money ; and all travel- 
lers know that Eysten has been king in Norway." 

They were at first only block-houses (called saelnhus in 
the sagas), and uninhabited. The first inn {tafernishus) was 
built in 1303, by King Hakon Magnusson. 

Tofte was one of the stations thus supported by the kings. 
Even yet, these Post-Houses have peculiar rights — the 
owners being freed from taxes, and enjoying other privileges. 

I had noticed in the room of the post-house some remark- 
able articles of furniture of black carved wood, with gilt 
ornaments, and was told that the Bonder who owned them 
lived on the hill near by. I felt a great desire to see the 
farm-buildings of one of this class, but was doubtful whether 
I should be received without a proper letter of introduction. 
A Norwegian gentleman in the inn encouraged me, saying- 
no one made ceremonies here, so, engaging a guide, I 
started off. 

The Bonder of Norway is not at all a common peasant. 
In one sense he is the aristocrat of the country ; he owns 
the land, and is descended from the old leaders, and some- 
times the princes, of the nation. His class send the most 
of the Representatives to the National Assembly. We 



AFakmee. 49 

might say, he is one of the farmers, or yeomanry of Nor- 
way ; but, so far as my observation extends, the Bonder are 
not at all like the "farmers" of America, or the yeomen of 
England. They are a more distinct class ; a class with less 
of the gentleman and more of the relics of the former peasan- 
try about them — who, though independent, were still some- 
what in the power of the great princes. In this — the middle 
province of Norway — ^you see them continually on the boats, 
at the post-houses, and working in the fields. Their features 
are usually large and strong, with firm and intelligent ex- 
pression, and the blonde complexion much reddened by the 
exposure to the weather. They seem vigorous, well-made 
men. The common costume is a red cap, like a night-cap ; 
jacket with metal buttons, and breeches. The farm build- 
ings of one Bonder were shown me, on Lake Mjosen, who 
was estimated to be worth $100,000. 

The gaard, or estate, of this proprietor was on a hill, 
commanding an immense view, and like all the farms we 
have passed, formed with its buildings, a little square, the 
interior being protected from the winter winds. There was 
no indication, among various houses, which was the main 
dwelling, but finding one hospitable-looking door, I rapped 
with my knuckles, and a servant girl opened. She under- 
stood me, and summoned the master. He came soon, and 
looking at a sort of general letter I had, at once showed me 
into another of the little houses in the square. 

There was something very notable in his appearance ; he 
was not exactly a " gentleman," in the usual acceptation, 
not a man of the world, but he imwressed you as a, kind of 

3 



50 - The Norse-Folk. 

natural prince ; tall, strong, with commanding features and 
long black hair, and an air of genuine dignity. He wore 
the red woollen cap and the usual costume of the farmers. 
At each door, as he opened it, he stepped back and bowed, 
to let me in. I was shown into a large room with a hand- 
same uncarpeted floor. The furniture was singular. On 
each side of the apartment were some splendid carved cabi- 
nets and tables, black, with gilding — one with white panels, 
having pictures in them — while in the midst of the room a 
common deal table stood, with enormous legs, and in the cor- 
ners were small tables and wooden settees — -just such as one 
would see in an English country ale-house. Near the door 
was a long, old clock, such as every New Englander is fami- 
liar with in his oldest village houses. The host had gone 
out for a little while, as I was observing all this. He 
returned, and brought with him an old gentleman with a 
still more noble and patriarchal air. This one welcomed me 
in the same dignified manner, and told me in a few words 
that he was a direct descendant from one of the old Norwe- 
gian kings, Harald Haarfager. A decanter was then 
brought in with a cordial, and a glass poured out for me. I 
sipped, and we all bowed, and quite seriously drank healths. 
This custom of the welcoming-drink dates back at least to 
times of the early Yikings. It appears in all the sagas.* 

* It is stated in one of the sagas, that when Gangleri asked about 
heavenly things — whether water was drunk in Walhalla ? his informant 
rephed, that it would be a wonderful thing indeed, if the All-Father 
should invite kings, and earls, and heroes, to himself, only to set 
water before them ! 



AFaem-House. 51 

After some conversation, I asked if they would have any 
objections to show a stranger the house. They had not, 
and getting a bunch of keys, the younger took me over 
one or two of the houses. There were an immense number 
of bedrooms ; some with plain farmer-like furnishing, others 
with elegant curtained beds and pieces of splendid furniture. 
Seeing my interest, my host kindly went farther and took 
me to the store-rooms and attic. There were the winter 
coats, the bear skins and furs, and reindeer boots and high 
water-boots ; the blankets and comfortables and dresses ; 
then the little sleds and sleighs for the snow ; the piles 
of round oatmeal cakes, each a foot and a half in diameter, 
kept for the food of the laborers ; heaps of birch bark 
for tanning, spinning-wheels for weaving, shoe-blocks for 
shoe-making — for on these farms all trades are carried on. 
Then to the kitchen — a still separate house again, with 
a sort of stone range in a corner, over which is a little 
roof completely overshadowing it, and carrying off the 
smoke and flames of the cooking. In another part was 
a great tin tub for baking bread, and large vats or vessels 
for boiling. One side of the kitchen was occupied with 
beds for the servants. The next little log-house seemed 
to be for keeping preserved meats ; another was used for 
some common farm purposes, and had a little cupola and 
bell, which is often seen in the Norwegian farm-clusters, 
and has a most picturesque effect. It gives a centrality 
to each group — as though they made up one home. There 
were, I think, eight of these log-houses in this gaard. 

This arrangement of many separate houses appears in 



52 The ISTokse-Folk. 

all the old sagas. We hear very early of a sleep-house 
{sympnhus) ; and of two stalls being kept apart from the 
dwellings, though even at this day, the Danish peasant 
has animals and family under one roof. The old Icelandic 
homesteads had often thirty or forty houses. 

My host next took • me to the stables, though " the 
creatures," as he informed me, were in the mountain pas- 
tures, or saetters. These are beautiful little green pastures 
on the heights of the mountain, where the cattle stay in 
the summers, under the charge of two or three dairy 
maids and men, who there make their butter and cheese 
for winter. They are famous in Norwegian poetry and 
romance. 

The barns in central Norway, though often old, have 
the modern improvements — being built usually on a side- 
hill — ^with two or three easy entrances to each story, and 
with apertures for sliding the hay or grain down to the 
stalls beneath. The lower story is the cattle stable, each 
stall being constructed of two large slabs of slate, so 
that you look up, on entering, a long range of upright 
stone slabs, which make the separating walls of each stall, 
the floor is of wood, and the feeding place a trough, 
with bars above, as in our own barns. The barns as 
well as other buildings are elevated on little stone sup- 
ports, to save them from the destructive invasions of the 
lemming-rats.* 

* These little creatures are a species of rat which in Lapland is 
very small, but in Norway attains sometimes the size of a wharf-rat. 
They have black and tawny spots on their backs, with white head and 



Crops and Cattle. 5? 

Slate-slabs form a very common article of use in this 
valley. This gentleman has one table, some eight feet by 
five, made of one slab. 

One part of the under story was slabbed out for sheep and 
pigs. I was surprised to see an old threshing-machine here 
— the wheels turned by a horse moving in a circle below — a 
ponderous, primitive-looking thing, but the owner said, very 
useful. The common crops raised by him are oats, barley 
and hay. His fields are irrigated by water, brought down 
in troughs, as I have before described. 

He has about one hundred cows, thirty horses, and hun- 
dreds of sheep and swine. 

• I know not how to express enough my sense of the cour- 
tesy and the intelligence of this Bonder landlord. With 
our limited means of understanding each other, he showed 
such a quickness and keenness — such an appreciation 
of the point of every question, that I was surprised how 
much we communicated in so few words. Then everywhere, 
he manifested such a true and manly courtesy, that I left 
him feeling the country was very fortunate that posses*sed 
such a class. They are evidently the muscle and bone of 
Norway, and when greater enlightenment and modern enter- 
prise shall reach them, we shall see what a nation this vigor- 
ous old Norse people can yet make. 

belly, and grey legs and tail. Once in eight or ten years there is 
a great immigration of these animals— as there is of squirrels in 
America, directly over the country, up mountains, and across lakes. 
Nothing can turn them aside, and they consume everything they 
can get hold of. 



54 TheNoese-Folk. 

The great historical fact, undoubtedly, which gave the 
peculiar power to the Norwegian people in their early his- 
tory, and which renders now their peasantry, one of the 
best of Europe, is that Feudalism had no existence among 
them. Some of the French historians have questioned this, 
but there seems now now no doubt of it. Feudalism is 
always the fruit of conquest. In Norway, the conquered 
inhabitants, the Finns, melted away before a race so differ- 
ent, or fled to the Northern and most inaccessible provinces. 
There was no conquered people to render military service. 
The land was divided among equals. Democratic assemblies 
governed the people, from the earliest times. Even the 
petty kings, who were conquered and driven out by Harald 
Haarfager, were only chieftains from their bravery and skill, 
and were obliged to refer everything to the Things, or 
Popular Assemblies. These bodies often chose their king, 
and nearly as often murdered him. The country became 
divided up, as it were among a nation of soldiers. Each 
Bonder was a freeholder, equal to every one else, and owing 
for his estate no feudal duty, obligation or tax whatever. 
The only restriction upon him was the Udal Law. By this 
law, every descendant of the owner had, in the order of rela,- 
tionship, a right in the property. If the possessor sold or 
parted with the estate, the one next of kin had the power 
to redeem it, by re-paying the purchase-money ; and if he 
refused, the one next to him had again the same right. At 
his death again, it was divided among his lawful heirs. The 
time of redemption,* is in modern times limited to five years, 

* Laing. 



Pkimogeniture. 55 

By such a law, there could be no primogeniture, and no 
opportunity for large estates. The nation, in its early his- 
tory, was a body of equal and free petty land-owners. It is 
so still. 



.-y 



CHAPTER V. 



POSTING. 



Dovre Fjeld. — ^We are ascending now the great plateau, 
called the Dovre Fjeld (pronounced Fiell.) The main road 
over it was first constructed in the beginning of the twelfth 
century, by King Eysten. The scenery is very desolate : 
there is no vegetation except stunted birch, and the ground 
is covered with fragments of rock. At a little distance, are 
snow-topped hills : snow occasionally drifts down near the 
road. On one side of the way are poles, at regular distance, 
to mark the path in winter. Though it is near the end of 
June, the air is cold and cutting, like jSTovember winds. 

The height above the sea here is about 3,200 feet. We 
can catch occasional glimpses of a famous snow-peak in the 
distance — Sneehoetten — a mountain about t,*IOO feet high. 

Jerkin. — This is another of the old government post- 
houses, and is considered the best between Christiania and 
Trondhjem. It is a little gaard, or group of farm-houses right 
in the midst of this desolate mountain scenery — not a house or 
tree in sight. We were put into a comfortable upper room, 
with a roaring fire, and a nice supper of Reindeer-steak and 
pancakes with coffee, was sent up. The old room, with 

56 



APosT-HousE. 67 

its great feather-beds set in alcoves, and its large cliair£5 
and quaint furniture, had a very inviting look after our 
long ride. 

I went out soon to examine the farm. The landlord is one 
of the old Bonders of the country : and the arrangement is 
very much like that at the farm near Tofte, only on a smaller 
scale. All the trades are carried on on the farm — smithery, 
carpentering, shoemaking, weaving, etc., etc. There are 
various little houses for these and other purposes. In one 
we found dried meats ; in another, piles of oaten cakes, for 
the workmen during the winter. One building has, as usual, 
the little belfry. The stable has the same arrangement of 
stalls, slabbed off by pieces of slates. The cows were 
away in the saetter — I think the boy said there were fifty of 
them. There were stalls also for some forty or fifty horses. 
In the house, the landlady showed us, with much pride, her 
furs and handsome dresses, and other articles — reindeer 
coats, bear and fox-skins, wolves'-skins, and eider-down com- 
fortables. Both she and the landlord had much the same man- 
ner that a substantial farmer and farmer's wife would have 
with us — an independent, kind, half-patronizing way. This 
post-house is a favorite sporting station for the English : there 
are two sportsmen now in the little guest-house : and here 
travellers leave the main road to climb Sneehoetten. The 
charges are just about what they would be at an American 
country tavern — about seventy-five cents, or one dollar a day. 
Generally, the whole bill in a Norwegian inn, is not much 
more than fifty cents a day for each person, provided he 
does not call for too many dishes. TraveUing was once 

3* 



68 The Noese-Folk. 

much cheaper in Norway, but the English are said to have 
corrupted the people, as they have done the Swiss ; still, 
even now it is the cheapest country in Europe, except 
Sweden, for hotel charges. Posting, inn-charges and a.11, 
come usually to about three dollars a day. 

There is in these stations — as indeed in all interior Nor- 
way — a curious mingling of habits. You climb a ladder to 
your bed-room, and find there the cleanest beds, with, per- 
haps, some rich antique furniture, but the log-walls scarcely 
covered by plaster. A very nice dinner may be set before 
you, with napkins, and you begin to imagine yourselves in 
the most comfortable civilization, when your landlady sud- 
denly empties your slops out of the window, or you discover 
some singular omission on the table, which could no where 
else occur with such beginnings. 

A. little beyond Jerkin, the summit of the plateau is 
reached, 4,594 feet above the level of the sea. 

The descent from the Dovre Fjeld down the valley of the 
Driv, is a grand mountain drive — road like a gentleman's 
avenue, hard, gravelled, graded beautifully, and fenced by 
blocks of cut stone. 

On the left, a deep ravine, with a dashing stream, with 
waterfalls, eddies, flashing currents, cavernous pits, where the 
waters bury themselves to come out again foaming and 
hurrying below ; and beyond, the eye looking far down a 
succession of such glens — add to this, your little Norwegian 
pony trotting down the slopes at ten miles an hour, your 
ride changing each moment the point of view, yet giving 
you time to enjoy each glimpse, and revealing beds of the 



TheFlowees. 59 

most exquisite mountain-flowers, passed so quickly, that they 
seem like masses of beautiful violet, pink, or yellow coloring 
on the rocks, rather than flowers, and one can perhaps enjoy 
with us that morning ride down the mountain. The flowers 
are wonderful, so delicate and fresh in coloring, growing 
almost from the chinks of the cliffs. The lady can hardly 
get on, for sending the post-boy to pick them ; but " the 
stupid fellow " has such a talent for' finding dandelions and 
butter-cups, and weeds, instead of violets and hare-bells, and 
such like I * 

Stuen. — We are experiencing now some of the fair com- 
pensation for the trouble which the Norwegian law allows 
a traveller to put upon a peasant. We are passing oc- 
casionally common or "slow stations," where horses are 
not obliged to be kept, and where it often takes three 
or four hours to get one from the mountain-pasture. To 
avoid delay, I had sent on an order for horses at such 
an hour. But we have been everywhere delayed, and in 
consequence must pay wait-money. There is additional 
money demanded, too, for sending for the horses. I dis- 



* Among the flowers which we found were the following : — 
The draba ( cruciferce ) ; viola palustris, viola tricolor ; lychnis githago, 
silene nivea {caryophyllacece) ; linum ; geranium palustre ; epilobium 
angustifolium {onogracece) ; sedum minimum {crassulacece) ; linnaea 
borealis ; galium mollugo [ruhiacece) ; achillea multifolium {com- 
posifoe) ; vitis ideae altera (vaccinium), andromeda cerulea (ericacece) ; 
linaria vulgaris [scrophulariacece) ; echium ; pholx (polemoniacece). 



60 TheNokse-Folk. 

puted and discussed it at first considerably, but finally 
found it was the legal charge. 

I think the Norwegian always respects you for ques- 
tioning anything that is an overcharge. We had a gov- 
ernment post-book with us, and knew exactly what vre 
should pay for every mile. The peasants can always be 
convinced, if you will reason with them and show your 
authority. They are generally poor reckoners, and one 
must not unfrequently pay them more than they claim to 
give them their legal right. This settling the fare by law 
is an immense saving of annoyance and disputes. It is 
good policy to give drink-money, or gratuities to your post- 
boys, which is but a trifle — with the Norwegian travellers, 
three or four cents ; with a foreigner, perhaps double. If 
he gives more he injures other travellers, as it is not the 
custom of the country. 

The scenery of this part of the journey is very fine — 
wide views over deep valleys, and dark pine-covered hills. 

At the station, just after we had crossed the Orkel, on 
the summit of the hill, we enjoyed one of the grandest 
views on the whole route. An immense valley opened 
below, filled with sombre pines, and in the midst flowed 
a calm, dark river, while beyond, surge upon surge of the 
gloomy hills crossed the valley. At the west it opened into 
a green dell, with soft, sloping banks, where the stream 
wound through, beautifully gleaming. A rich glow of light 
from a summer sunset poured over the whole, giving a 
wonderful glory and softness to what would have been 
otherwise only a grand and gloomy scene.. 



Teondhjem. 61 

We were delayed now at each station, and did not reach 
Garlie (our resting-place for the night), till about one 
o'clock. But there was no darkness; all through the night, 
the light was almost as it is with us on a cloudy day. 

On the morning of the fifth day from leaving Christiania, 
we crossed the ridge which gave us the first view of Trondh- 
JEM. The old city lay below on the banks of the beautiful 
Fiord, with the Cathedral towers and formal houses plainly 
to be seen, the shipping and steamers in front, the dark 
solitary island (Munkholm) with its fort in the harbour, 
and a long stretch on each side of the arms and islets 
of the Fiord. The city was still eight or ten miles away 
by road, and the worst road I had yet seen. After a 
tedious drive, we reached the old fortifications and entered 
the ancient city. Our carrioles rattled up the broad, paved 
streets, lined with low, neat houses, toward the Hotel de 
belle Vue, which had been especially recommended. The 
city is a quiet, formal town, which is redeemed from 
common-place by the interesting old cathedral, that meets 
your view almost everywhere. The shops appear all like 
private houses, with windows high from the ground, to 
avoid the deep snow in the winter. 

We were soon made comfortable in our hotel, with a neat 
room and a good dinner, and I sallied out to see the city. 

There is little to interest a stranger in it, except its 
historic associations, as the ancient Capital of Norway, 
and its cathedral. This last is a most remarkable building, 
both for its mingling of styles, its union of different ages 
and schools, and the massive effect of the whole structure. 



62 The Nokse-Folk. 

All the wealth and religious feeling of Norway cannot 
keep it in repair, and the mystery is, how it was ever built. 
-^ The two aisles are in the purest Byzantine, and the 
nave in the Gothic. The most delicate and graceful part 
of it is its choir, now ornamented with Thorwaldsen's figure 
of Christ ; and the Apostles, by his pupil Bissen. These, 
I believe, were the gift of Bernadotte. The interior is 
disfigured by a row of wooden boxes, built up on the sides 
of the nave, like the boxes of a theatre. A large part 
of the nave is still in ruins. 

The two chapels clinging to the choir, the minaret-like 
spire and the solid tower, the exquisite flower capitals, 
and the grotesque faces, leave a strange combination of 
impressions on the mind — of the Eastern imagination, and 
the quaint Gothic, sardonic earnestness expressed in the 
singular structure. 

Jum — th, 1856. — I was amused in accompanying a gen- 
tleman to call upon another, to see him put on a sou'wester, 
as if it was the customary June coat for Trondhjem. The 
wind felt like December air. Most of the gentlemen to whom 
I had letters, were in their villas in the country at this 
season. I visited one house, well known to travellers for 
its artistic treasures and the cultivated host — that of Con- 
sul Knudtzen's. He has several of the most famous bas- 
rehefs of Thorwaldsen — his brother having been one of 
the first friends and patrons of the great artist. I saw 
here also the well-known book of Minutoli on the Trondh- 
jem Cathedral. 



Schools. 63 

Trondhjem has a number of Public Schools, as well as 
a Real School or academy, a Drawing-school for mechanics 
and artisans, and an Agricultural School in the country 
near by. I attended an exhibition in the Real School, 
and a giving of prizes for scholarship during the school- 
term. The teacher of English was very polite and com- 
municative, and gave me much information on Norwegian 
Schools. 



CHAPTER VI. 



TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 



A TRIP to the North Cape, even in July, cannot be re- 
commended, unless you are sure of the weather. To-day is 
the second of July, and the wind, which cuts across the 
deck, is like a February gale in America. 

We left Trondhjem, or Drontheim, yesterday in one of 
a line of steamers run by the government along the whole 
coast from Christiania to Hammerfest, for the purpose 
of carrying the mail and providing a connection between the 
different parts of Norway. The prices are very moderate, 
and as a business line it would not pay. There are two little 
cabins, one for gentlemen and one for ladies, and a small 
saloon in common. The rate of passage is fixed at twelve 
skillings per mile (about three cents an English mile) — 
wives or sisters, in company with a gentleman, being charged 
half price, as is the universal custom on Norwegian boats. 

Our company is made up of two or three young merchants 
returning to the North from business on the continent, a 
young Norwegian gentleman travelling with his betrothed, 
a young lady going home from an English school, one or 
two other ladies, one German artist, one English 'Squire, 

64 



Coast Scenery. 65 

and, beside ourselves, an American gentleman, with his wife 
and servant. On the front deck are great nmnbers of fish- 
ermen's wives and farmers, coming back from selling their 
products at Trondhjem, and taking their sugar, goods, etc., 
to the Lofoden Islands, Tromso, Hammerfest, and various, 
small stations on the north coast of Norway. Among 
them are three Cambridge-men from England, pedestrians 
and sportsmen, who sleep on the deck under their blankets. 
The weather is horrible — cold, bleak, with occasional 
turns of driving mist and rain, almost sleet — and then clear- 
ing up, to show the grand and gloomy scenery. We are 
driving on through narrow Fiords, or arms of the sea, with 
grey, bare rocks, twisted and broken and crumbled as 
though under the action first of fire, and then of ages of the 
ocean storms, reaching down close to the white waves. No 
houses or grass, or trees are visible on shore, nor sails upon 
the water. Behind the first ledges the land sinks, and then 
rises into sharp, jagged mountain peaks, drifted with snow 
even to their base, and wreathed with mist. Large white 
gulls flutter over the rocks, and now and then the eider- 
ducks scud off just on the surface of the water towards the 
shore. Now as I write, we have come out on a larger bay, 
with heavy waves rolling in. Rocky islands make the hori- 
zon seaward, and on every other side the many mountain- 
summits rise. We steer in at what seems an unbroken 
dark ledge of rocks, but as we approach, a channel opens, 
and beyond, another broad sheet of water appears, sprinkled 
with islands, and opening into innumerable bays and armlets 
among the fissures of the mountains. There is no soft, sum- 



66 TheJSTokse-Folk. 

mer light, no gently rounded outline, or dreamy perspective 
— it is all stern, harsh, and forbidding. 

ToRGHATTAN. — One of the most remarkable objects we 
have met, is an island-peak — Torghattan — with an im- 
mense cavern distinctly visible through the upper part. 
Murray says " large enough for a ship to go through," but 
unfortunately the floor must be a hundred feet or more from 
the water. Forbes* makes the peak about twelve hundred 
feet high, and the cavern is estimated here as large as a 
cathedral. 

Some fishing boats have just crossed our bows — broad, 
umwieldy things, with cod-fish piled half-way up the mast 
like hay, and with one large square sail, which is reefed by 
untying and separating from the sail successive folds. They 
have very high stems and sterns ; it seemed to me the old 
traditional form of the Yiking "sea-dragons," as pictures 
give them. Our captain says they are excellent sailers. 

We have just passed a harbor where a famous old Yiking, 
Harick, had his nest. It seems the coast to breed Vikings 
— the sea-kings and pirate-conquerors of the North. The 
scenery opens now more- grand ; the mountains are massive 
at the base, but above broken, and as if tossed about in the 
wildest confusion. Peak follows peak in endless succession 
and form. A green herbage is visible on the lower slopes 
probably dwarf birches and pines. As 1 write, the fog rises, 

* Glaciers of Norway. 



The Giant-Rider. 67 

and the sun, near the edge of the mountains, at eleven 
o'clock at night, pours a golden light into the cabin. 

The great peculiarity of the scenery is the rounded 
smooth character of the hills below, while the peaks rise 
in abrupt conical or jagged summits above — the latter 
being, perhaps, a volcanic effect, while the former shows 
the abrasion of the immense ice-floods which once swept 
over Norway. 

We have passed the "Seven Sisters" — seven stern, weird- 
looking peaks,* that seemed to reach out snowy hands to 
each other, and whose frosty brows lowered on us as though, 
according to the Finnish traditions, they were the spirits 
hostile to the proud conquering races who had invaded 
them. 

HESTEMANDOE. 

July second. — We have just passed the Arctic circle, at 
a singular island, rising in the form of a giant horseman 
from the waters. The back of his mantle is the mountain- 
side, and the crags and cliffs make the horse's head and ears, 
and the rider's hand. His head was at first veiled angrily 
in mist ; but as we passed, a whiif carried it away, and a- 
grand, calm face, like the face of the Sphynx, stood out, 
looking solemnly up to the stormy sky. The effect was 
mysterious and wonderful. These high peaks are great 
barometers to the seamen, and one can imagine . how many 
a fisher-boat's crew has watched anxiously and supersti- 

* Estimated height, four thousand feet. — Von Buck. 



68 The JSTorse-Eolk. 

tiously the head of the giant rider, and, though Christian, 
has muttered a prayer against Jumala or the Trolls. 

The legend of this island is, that a giant who dwelt on it, 
shot a great arrow at a maiden in Lekoe (eighty-eight miles 
distant), who had rejected him. The arrow passed through 
Torghattan, and made the great cave or fissure, already 
mentioned, and thus failed of reaching the maiden. Both 
then changed each other to stone, and must so remain till 
doomsday. 

Thorpe says that every Nordlander still takes off his hat, 
as he sails by, to the maid of Lekoe. 

We are winding now through multitudes of islands with 
occasional little stations, which consist usually of a large 
log-house, with a Norwegian flag floating above it, and one 
or two smaller houses, sometimes boarded and painted red. 
The roofs are frequently grassed, and it is difficult to dis- 
tinguish them from the green slopes which form the foot of 
the mountains. 

Sometimes, on a rocky coast, the eye wanders over the 
cliffs for a long distance, without noticing these little brown 
cabins planted on them. The channels between the rocks 
are occasionally so narrow, that the steamer is compelled to 
anchor, and swing round on its bows, in order to return. 
Last night, our artist and the ladies were on the constant 
lookout for the ''midnight sun," but the clouds utterly 
obscured the view. 

The thermometer stands at thirty-five degrees (Fahren- 
heit) in a shelter, and continual storms of cold rain or mist 
sweep over our course ; such cold and gloom at this season 



Glaciers. 69 

are almost unknowii. The farmers on board say it has done 
great injury to the crops. The artist says, ''If he could 
only have good butter, he should not care for the weather !" 
Every one is shivering, and abusing the arctic summer. Yet 
there is something in these sudden wild squalls, and the 
gloomy mists covering and reveuling the wintry snow-peaks, 
and in the cold grey light, well suited to the character of 
the coast — the stern, grand, repelling scenery. 

THE FONDAL GLACIERS. 

July third. — To-night I was called up to see a grand 
scene. A wintry gale was howling over the ship, and to the 
southward, the drifting squalls hid every thing in gloomy, 
driving sleet and rain ; but near us, on our quarter, some 
peaks arose which seemed gigantic, against the misty back- 
ground. The first was a black, massive cliff, rent and 
fissured and with twisted strata marked plainly on its side, 
jutting with deep wall against the sea ; behind it, and fol- 
lowing the line of the coast, were several peaks of pure 
snow, whose tops in the storm above seemed to reach 
unknown heights. 

The snow was drifting in clouds about their summits, and 
yet every few moments admitting a perfectly clear view into 
their vast solitudes, so that what seemed tracks were visible 
down the sides. As the mountains opened to view, glaciers 
appeared between them, the blue ice obtruding through the 
snow. On the seaward side again, the cessation of the 
storm-gusts showed snow-peaks and black, craggy islands. 



70 The KoRSE- Folk.-. 

It seemed the very desolation of the Icy Ocean ; or as if 
you were a witness of the action of the most gigantic 
powers of Nature, in the antediluvian solitude and chaos. 
You shrink away, as if too insignificant amid such tremen- 
dous agencies. 

We are now in the West Fiord, one of the broadest inlets 
on the coast, and near the famous whirlpool. 

THE MAELSTROM. 

I quote from Yon Buch's description. 

♦ 

"It is from these rapid changes and agitations that the West Fiord 
is so dangerous for the coasting navigation. The Fiord presses hke 
a wedge between the main land and the high and very extemsive 
islands and mountainous range of Lofoden. The tide surges on 
at the same time, and the general current from the south to the 
northern coasts. The narrow sounds between the islands do not 
afford a sufficiently quick passage for this great mass of water ; the 
ebb returns like a cataract, and the smallest opposition to this 
motion, such as south winds, occasions immediately broken and irre- 
gular waves. A stronger wind, which drives before it the deep 
waves of the sea, sets the whole Fiord in furious commotion. In 
all the sounds between the island of Lofoden, the sea flows in as 
in the strongest and most rapid rivers, and on that account ^he 
outermost bear the name of streams, Grimstrom, Napstrom, Sund- 
strom ; and wherever the fall of the ebb cannot extend through such 
long channels, there arises an actual cataract ; for instance, the 
well-known Malstrom at Mosken and Yaroe. These streams and this 
fall change their direction, therefore, four times in the day, as the 
tide or ebb drives the water on; but the Malstrom is peculiarly 
dangerous and terrible to look at, when the northwest wind blows 



TheLoffodens. 71 

in opposition to the ebbing. We then see waves struggling against 
wayes, towering aloft, or wheeling about in whirlpools. We hear 
the dashing and roaring of the waves for many miles out at sea. 
But in summer these violent winds do not prevail ; and the stream 
is then little dreaded, and does not prevent the navigation of the 
inhabitants of Yardoe and Moskenoe. The desire to see here some- 



thing extraordinary and great is therefore generally disappointed ; 
for travellers, for the sake of trj 
mer only, and seldom in winter." 



for travellers, for the sake of travelling, venture up Norway in sum 



All the descriptions I heard from the Norwegians familiar 
with the coast confirmed this account. At high and low 
tide the "Mill-stream" is perfectly safe; only at the ebb 
is it at all perilous. Its latitude is about 68°. 

Our "Fourth" was passed in snow-storms near some 
of the most imposing scenes of the voyage — the Lofoden 
Islands. 

We celebrated it by a good dinner, and one American 
treated the whole forward deck to a kind of root and 
ginger-beer of the country. A Negro — an American — 
passed it around, and was as enthusiastic — poor fellow ! — ■ 
as any one for the day of American Liberty. This Negro 
is much looked up to by the deck-passengers, as a sort 
of mysterious Oriental personage. 

The peaks of the Lofodens rise like volcanic summits 
with the most sharp and jagged outlines. The panorama 
of snowy needle-like peaks from one point is wonderful. 
One writer compares them to the teeth of a shark ; another 
to vertebrae. They are red granite cliffs, protruded as if 



72 TheNokse-Folk. 

by fearful volcanic power, about four thousand feet in 
height, and with glaciers and snowy valleys among them. 
Forbes* says the line of this semi-circle of mountain-sum- 
mits reaches one hundred and thirty miles, and in one 
point, they occupy a third of the horizon. 

Our steamer went far out of its regular course to visit 
these islands. # 

Here is the centre of the great business of the north of 
Norway — the cod-fishery. It employs now probably from 
twenty-four thousand to twenty-five thousand men, and has 
a capital engaged of three or four millions of dollars. The 
fishing is carried on near these islands, from February to 
the end of May ; then it removes, for a few months, to the 
northernmost coast, for another variety. 

The men engaged are the most bold, hardy sailors exist- 
ing, and are subject to great privations. We have just 
entered a harbor, and the captain says that sometimes a 
storm will sweep these boats right from their anchors into 
the open Fjord. Last year, twelve were thus carried out 
and wrecked. The business is not as once, merely an 
exchange of the fish for provisions — thereby giving the 
fishermen no chance for saving money — but is a regular 
cash-trade with the Bergen and Trondhjem merchants. 
There are two modes of curing the fish — one by cutting it, 
like our cod, into halves, and hanging it over sticks to dry 
(this is called stock-fish) ; the other, by packing in heaps 
and drying them on the rocks. These little heaps you see 
all along the coast. 

* Glaciers of Norway. 



A Lapp. ^3 



THE LAPPS. 

" A Lapp ! a Lapp !" We all rushed, helter-skelter, on 
deck, to see the first specimen we had yet met. " Which 
is he ? Which one V There is no mistaking. A broad, 
brown face, with high cheek-bones, and half-frightened 
expression ; the hair long and light, eyes blue, forehead 
common, and nose mean. His cap rises straight from his 
forehead, with a bright red band around it ; he wears a 
woollen blouse, with red fringes at the wrists, blue trowsers, 
tied with red bands at the ankles, and great turned-up 
shoes — in the lower part somewhat a Chinese costume. 
" The shoes are packed with dried grass, beaten down, to 
make them soft," says the captain. An old woman is with 
him, also with high cap, with red band ; but her face is 
much darker, her eyes small and black, with a Mongolian 
cast. 

" There they are, at dinnner !" The old woman has 
pulled out a large cake, like an immense buckwheat-cake in 
appearance, which she eats with cheese. Edward, the col- 
ored man, of course, gets into a talk with them, as he does 
with eyery body, though how he makes himself understood, 
is an inscrutable mystery. He says the cheese is not rein- 
deer cheese, and that the cake is rye-bread. 

This person is not a Lapp, probably, but a " Sea-Finn" — • 
one of those who live near the shore, and have settled habi- 
tations. The " Mountain-Finn " lives a wandering life, with 
his reindeer We see the huts of the former now on every 

4 



Y4: The Nokse-Folk. 

Fiord. The '' Quens," of whom we hear a great deal now, 
as we go farther north, are the inhabitants of Russian Fin- 
land, a larger and handsomer race than the Finns and 
Lapps. 

I have conversations continually with the Norwegians, 
on their dealings with the Finns. They deny all oppres- 
sion or wrong on their part, and describe these tribes as 
hopelessly inferior and ignorant. Still the fact remains, 
that the Finns, like our Indians, have lost their old habita- 
tions ; and that the conquering race have done, till lately, 
very little for their improvement. A singular movement 
has commenced within a few years among them, of which I 
cannot as yet speak with confidence. It began with terrible 
outrages, and fanaticisms ; the murder of the sheriff of the 
district, and an attempt to offer a Protestant clergyman as 
a bloody sacrifice to God — the poor creatures believing 
themselves acting under divine inspiration. They were 
punished ; and since that time, under the influence of 
Swedish missionaries, the rehgious excitement has taken a 
more healthy direction. 

My friends speak of it as merely a '' fanaticism ;" but, by 
their own confession, it has driven out intoxication from 
among these tribes, which had prevailed before to a fearful 
extent, and the results seem to be of a sound, rational 
nature. They are represented as deeply attached to the 
Bible, but not so much revering Luther ; as very correct 
and pure in their lives, speaking with much feeling of their 
religious hope, but believing in an inner inspiration in each 
man's heart. Even the magistrates allow a great change 



Ethnology. 75 

in the general morality of the Finns and Lapps, since the 
'^ revival movements." 

It will give an idea of the proportion of these tribes to 
the Norwegians* in Einnmark, to give the statistics of a 
single parish in this neighborhood, furnished me by a clergy 
man on board — that of Lyngen : Normans or Norwegians, 
614 ; Quaens, 121 ; Finns, 1,601. Of these, the mingled 
races are — from Norwegians and Quens, 92 ; from Quens 
and Finns, 119 ; from Norwegians and Finns, t — this last 
giviQg an excellent instance of the affinities between the 
two races, as compared with those of either to the Russian 
Quaens. I 

The Quaens, or Finns from Finland, are a tall, well-made 
race, and do not at all resemble the Norwegian Finns or 
Lapps. They are agricultural, and the Lapps nomadic. 
Yon Buch dates their entrance into Norway, only to the 
time of Charles XII. 

With regard to the relation and ethnology of these tribes, 
there may be some confusion of ideas, owing to the confu- 
sion of terms applied to them among the Norwegians them- 
selves. We hear of Finns, of Lapps, of Quaens or Kvens,f 
and Russian Finns. All these really belong to but one 
great family — the Tsjudes — and divide themselves into two 

* Lallerstedt makes the number of Finns in Norwegian Finmark, 
6,000; of Lapps, 13,000; of Norwegians, 25,000. — La Scandinavie, 
ses Bsperances, cfcc, p. '7. 

t The English word queen, is allied — this country of Finland, having 
formerly been supposed to be the country of the Amazons, or of 
womeriy and thus called queen-land, or Kvenaland, 



76 The Noese-Folk. 

branches, the Polar people, or the Finns and Laps, and the 
inhabitants of Russian Finland, or the Qu^ns, formerly 
called Suomi. * The Tsjudes are a great Asiatic race, 
allied to the Mongolians, who have covered the JSTorthern 
and Northeastern provinces of Europe. They form the 
under-stratum in Russia, especially in Archangel and the 
provinces near St. Petersburg, but are utterly different both 
from the Sclavic and the Germanic families. They divide 
themselves, according to Prof. Rask, into three great 
branches, of which it is only necessary here to mention the 
Finnish. 

One of these branches includes also the Madjars, or Hun- 
garians. 

The Finnish branch, beside the two divisions mentioned 
above, has a third, not important in this connection. The 
languages of the Polar Finns and the Russian Finns, or 
Quaens, differ as much as the German and Danish, so that 
the two peoples do not understand each other. The language 
of Russian Finland is the only cultivated Finnish tongue, 
having its own literature. The people also are far superior 
physically, to their relations of the West. 

Prof. Munck f limits the proper Finnish territory as fol- 
lows : — " It is bordered toward the east by a semi-circle, or 
a third of a circle, from the Gulf of Livonia to the Western 
part of the White Sea, and towards the west, by a similar 
curved line, from Malanger in Finmark to TJmala on the 
Gulf of Bothnia." 

* Prof. Munck. 

f Norskt Maanedskrift, 1st Hefte. 



ALegend. 77 

We have just passed Senjen, a remarkable island. The 
legend related of it is characteristic : 

THEGIANT. 

In ancient times, when the holy St. Olaf came to instruct 
the Norwegians in the faith of " The white Christ," and to 
plant the cross on the heathen altars, he found his efforts 
much impeded by the terrible monsters, that still inhabited 
the mountains and the desolate rocks on the coast. Among 
these monsters was a giant Senjemanden, who lived in this 
island of Senjen. This giant threatened often vengeance 
against the strange God, who was about to drive him from 
his old dominions ; but he was most of all enraged at the 
pious chantings of a nun, who lived on the island of Gryto. 
These devout melodies would sometimes make him howl with 
rage and pain. Happily for the holy nun, his attention 
became occupied at this time with quite different subjects. In 
the interior of Kvedfjord, in a beautiful green valley near the 
Fjord, lived a Jutuljente, or daughter of a giant, who was 
wonderfully rich. Her bulls and black cows pastured the 
hills by the hundreds ; her flocks of goats swarmed over the 
mountains ; her sheep, fat and soft-fleeced, fed in the long 
grass of the valleys ; she had numbers of hens who layed 
their eggs continually ; eider-ducks on her rocks, who gave 
her soft covering ; reindeer on the mainland, who drew 
her in winter over the snows and ice. In her home she pos- 
sessed great drinking-horns of gold, and cups of silver ; and 
every one of her twelve dogs had a collar of silver. She had 
much riches beside, of which nobody knew ; for it is well 



\ 



78 TheISToese-Folk. 

known that the Jutuls, however much they have, always 
desire to conceal it, and to have more. The giant Senje- 
mand, though he was old and horribly ugly, was so 
dazzled by all these riches, that he resolved to win the 
the daughter of the giant to marriage. He commenced by 
addressing her in his softest tones, but even then, they 
sounded like summer thunder, and could be heard much far- 
ther than in her island, though that was twenty-four miles 
away. The Jutul-maiden was not a beauty, and had no 
inclination to perpetual virginity, but she could not bear the 
addresses of Senjemand. He was too awkward and heavy, 
and his education had been too much neglected in his associ- 
ation with mermaids and sea-monsters, and such like crea- 
tures, so she answered in good Norse verse — ■ 

" Miserable Senjemand — ugly and grey ! 
Thou win the maid of Kvedfjord ! 
No — a churl thou art, and shalt ever remain !" 

Whereupon the Senjemand gnashed his teeth, and in his 
rage, fitted a stone arrow to his bow, and shot it at the 
maiden. The arrow passed right through Toppen, and split 
it from top to bottom. At this very moment, the nun hap- 
pened to be out of doors, engaged in her morning orisons ; 
she was so frightened at the fearful crashing of the arrow 
through the cliff, that she was changed to stone, where she 
still stands. The arrow was turned aside by this obstacle 
of the cliff, and struck the mountain Elgen, on the 
Island Hindb, where it may be still seen. The Jutul- 
maiden, in her fear, was seeking to flee away on her horse, 



A L E G E N D . 79 

but was changed by the magical arts of the giant to stone, 
with her horse and saddle. The mountain Sadlen (saddle) 
is still to be seen. 

The wicked giant himself also became stone from his own 
rage, and he is so terrible, that no grass or shrub will grow 
upon him. He is still shown as a warning in the Senjeii 
Island. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FINMARK AND ALTEN, 



Our boat— the Prinds Gustav — is a very pleasant, though 
a small one, and we enjoy the trip as we approach the North 
more and more. The captain is a gentleman, an officer of 
the navy, speaking English very well. The cooking is admi- 
rable and the prices are all low. Our party is just large 
enough not to inconvenience each other, and still to have a 
good time. We stop at every small station, and are to 
remain nearly a day at the towns or important places. 

People constantly come on board and leave us again — 
generally government officers, and tradesmen, and clergymen. 
My American friend, Mr. L., says "he can always distin- 
guish a Norwegian clergyman now by his weight !" They 
are evidently the country 'squires and landlords, and not 
peculiarly ascetic in habits. Their duties seem to range 
from those of magistrates, office-holders and clergymen to 
the taking of census and numbering of cattle. One on 
board says, he must give to the government a complete 
return of all the population and property — even of every 
horse, cow or goat in his parish. 

Among our passengers we take many ladies, who are going 

80 



Ladt-Travellees. 81 

short distances : all have comical little wooden bandboxes 
calculated to try the Christian disposition of ]N"orwegian hus- 
bands. Some are unique in dress : the most, however, Eu- 
ropean in costume and rather pleasant in appearance, with- 
out being pretty. Our ladies have fastened upon one tall, 
serious, half depressed looking woman of sweet manner, as 
the original for the heroine in Afraja — sensible and devout, 
but without doubt about to be sacrificed by a tyrannical 
father to some suitor whom she does not love, a thing, we 
hear, not altogether confined to fiction in Norway. She has 
just left at a little fishing-station, whence a strong-manned 
boat pulled out to take her. They watched her depart, 
sadly. 

There is an old Lapp-woman on the forward deck, who 
might well do for one of the witches in Miigge's story. She 
has been released from the prison in Trondhjem. Her face 
looks like the lowest style of Indian faces — with a sly, be- 
sotted, murderous expression. She sleeps in all weathers 
under her blanket by the side of the funnel, and speaks to 
no one — even Edward can not open communications with 
her. 

In our part of the ship, there is a constant warfare going 
on between the American ladies and the Norwegian on the 
subject of the only window of their little cabin. There seems 
to be a strong constitutional objection on the part of the 
Norwegians to fresh air ; and however many crowd into the 
little room, the window must at once be shut. From the 
intimations of our ladies, we should gather also that the 
Norwegian female travellers are anything but delicate in 

4* 



82 The Norse-Folk. 

their curiosity either in strangers' affairs or property. Still, 
if there is anything one learns from travelling, it is, not to 
judge of a people alone from its travelling population. 

A great want of attention to women is very marked here. 
They are bundled into boats, or shoved out of them like 
packages — and need strong arms and much resolution some- 
times to avoid accidents. 

The worst travelling habit in Norway, is the disgusting 
spitting. I thought America had reached the lowest grade 
of nauseating vulgarity in that respect — but it is worse here. 
The decks are clammy with it. And now that I am grum- 
bling, I may go on to say, that of all European countries, it 
is the worst for fleas. Even Italy is not so tormenting. 
The country people are usually excessively filthy in their 
habits, and most of the inns are merely their houses, pro- 
vided with an extra bed-room. In Sweden or in Hungary, 
where the country inns are dirty and disagreeable, there is 
so much hospitality that in your pleasant quarters in gentle- 
men's houses, you forget the filthy character of the hotels 
and taverns. Here, where the travel is too much to allow 
of more hospitality than is customary in civilized and 
crowded countries, you feel the full effects of the quality of 
the public accommodations. Still all these are trifling, com- 
pared with the enjoyments and physical benefits from a Nor- 
wegian tour. 

We are now in the region of perpetual daylight, though 
bad weather has prevented a good view of the " midnight 



sun." 



This unceasing day gives a new sensation, worth coming 



The Perpetual Day. 83 

to Norway to feel. It is difficult to describe. You are 
at first struck with, the strangeness of Nature — the silence, 
and the unnatural light. You feel as if something unusual 
was about to happen. After a time you become more 
accustomed to the day, and lose the sense of division of 
time. The sensation is of perpetuity, of unlimited activity, 
of a Nature working without rest, or change, or shadow. 

It is exciting, stimulating, and cheerful ; but probably 
if enjoyed long, wearisome. 

Finmark. — As we enter the Finmark Amt, the aspect 
of the coast becomes even more volcanic,, with the sharp 
acuminated summits, and the contorted strata. 

In one place, the curved or curling lines of rock melted 
by fire, would have struck the most ignorant beholder, 
even a quarter-mile away. We saw; in several instances, 
precipices with grey limestone above, and some granitic 
formation below. Of all countries, this must be the favorite 
for a geologist. It is evident that two of the greatest 
agencies of Nature in continent-making — ^volcanic fire and 
ice floods — have been in tremendous action over the Nor- 
wegian coast. 

TROMSOE. 

We came on the deck of our steamer on the morning 
of the 5th of July, and found ourselves in what seemed 
a mountain-lake, with the little red-roofed town of Tromsoe 
on the borders. A brisk snow-storm was blowing, so as 
almost to hide the giant snow-peaks at one end of the 



84 The Noese-Folk. 

bay, the other was shut in by green slopes, with heavy 
masses of snow lying close on the grass. The town is on 
an island and sheltered from the sea by a larger island, 
Kvalo, though this does not at all appear from the water. 
It shows a number of substantial wooden ware-houses, and 
we could see some dwelling-houses of a very respectable 
size. The green grass roofs of the fishermen's cottages 
made the outskirts. We were soon on shore, and wandering 
about the town, picking some old friends among the flowers 
— butter-cups and violets from a grave-yard in one quarter. 
Every hut had flowers in the windows. The air was cold 
and wintry. We took breakfast in a miserable dirty inn. 
At a later hour, we called on a number of persons to 
whom we had letters— the Amtmand (magistrate) of the 
two districts of Finmark, By-Foged (sheriff), and others. 

In one house, I had a conversation with a very intelligent 
young pastor, on the new religious "movement." Like 
almost every person here, he spoke English. " I speak but 
imperfectly English,!' said he, " but I shall be happy to 
tell you of these peoples. They call themselves opvakte, or 
awakened, and they believe themselves to have alone the 
truth of the Bible. They are against the ordinances — • 
the daub — what is it ? child-baptism — for they say, no 
one should be baptist without his own will, and that they 
do have now the best baptism of the Holy Ghost. And 
so of the what call you it ? the priest's clothes and cere- 
mony, and the forgiveness of sin, which is spoken out by 
the clergyman. They be also opposed to amusements, the 
the musique and dance, and to brant vein (brandy). Some 



The Awakened. 85 

of them have burned their piano-fortes, but the most are too 
poor to have any such. They always bring out texts from 
the Bible, and say they have the true understanding of 
it. One must confess they show much moralsk (moral) 
in their lives. They will have nothing to do with the 
office church — what is it in English ?" " State Church." 
" Yes I they have removed themselves entirely, here in 
Tromsbe, to the number of forty-six, but I believe they 
come again. It will pass forby." 

" Do they beheve as you do, in Christ ?" 

" Oh, yes ; certainly, in nothing so much." 

I asked about their leaders. The clergyman thought 
they scarcely had any. Pastor Lommers of Skien, was 
a prominent clergyman among them, who had just aban- 
doned his place in the National Church. The most, he 
said, were led by people of their own sort, who pretended 
to especial inspiration. "They claim, you know, also, to 
be sinless." 

While conversing, a physician came in, who belonged 
to the new sect, and we had, after a short time, a con- 
versation in German together on the subject. 

He was guarded in his expressions, but in his view 
the movement was " a struggle for Apostolic Christianity." 
"We do not find," he said, "in the New Testament, 
that the clergymen should be chosen by the government 
authorities, and that he should have so much money, and 
wear such and such clothes in the church. We believe 
' confirmation ' is altogether a matter of the heart, and 
not to be fixed by law. Our efforts, mein Herr, is after 



86 The Norse-Folk. 

a life more impressed with religion ; we think each man 
can have a divine light within him." 

I asked about Baptism and the Communion. " Yes/' he 
said, " we believe that only old persons should be baptized ; 
and that the great thing is, the baptism of the Spirit." The 
Communion, he said, they wished made a thing for the soul 
only, and not a requisition. 

Of amusements, his own feeling was, that a redeemed 
person would have no taste for them ; still, they left that 
to the conscience of each one. Of their alleged belief in 
perfection, he denied that they ever supposed themselves to 
have attained to a sinless state. " The main thing in it all, 
sir, is what you in America will understand — we want the 
Church utterly kept apart from the State." 

It would be presumptuous in me, as yet, to give a judg- 
ment on this remarkable religious movement. But from all 
evidence thus far, I fully believe it is a natural vigorous pro- 
test against the State Church, accompanied, of course, with 
much fanaticism. It should be remembered, in N^orway 
every clergyman is an officeholder, paid by the government. 
Confirmation — church-membership — ^is a condition of citizen- 
ship, fixed by law at a certain age and after a certain degree 
of knowledge. That is, no one can hold a public office or 
receive a license, or be entitled to the fullest protection of 
the Norwegian laws, without possessing a certificate that he 
has been religiously confirmed in a certain church or parish. 
To enlarge on the fatal effects of such a mingling of the 
religious and the political, is not necessary to the American 
public. 



Clergymen's Salaries. 87 

The clergymen seem very well paid throughout the coun- 
try, and generally have the best farms along the road. In 
this town of Tromsoe, containing perhaps three thousand 
five hundred inhabitants, with the universal cheapness of 
every thing, the pastor has a salary of two thousand five 
hundred dollars, and his house. The salary is made up 
somewhat singularly. Twenty dollars of it are from the 
eider-down,^ furnished by a certain island in the neighbor- 
hood. Four hundred dollars come from lands, let out to 
farmers in the outskirts of the village, which belong to the 
pastorate : the rest is paid by the parish and the State. 
Among other fees, the pastor has a fixed one for every bap- 
tism and marriage and funeral. In the fishing districts, 
near the Lofodens, it is the custom for each fisherman to 
contribute a proportion of his fish, if the catch is lucky, so 
that in a good season the pastor will have three hundred or 
four hundred dollars' worth of fish added to his salary. 

I went with a friend to visit the church of the village. It 
is a log building, boarded, and painted red. The interior 
has the usual division into four equal parts, by one portion 
of the building crossing the other in the centre at right 
angles. 

The altar is separated by a railing from the church ; a 
picture of Christ was behind it, and candles before. The 
floor within was strewn with juniper twigs, for the odor. 

The seats in the body of the church were ugly wooden 
seats, and the walls were occupied with three tiers of 
unpainted little boxes, like opera-boxes, for the better 

*" The down sells here at two dollars a pound. 



88 The Nokse-Folk. 

classes. The pulpit was on one of the angles of the nave 
and transept. The house was never warmed, they said. 
Above the altar, hung two little ships-of-war, complete in 
all equipments, such as one sees sometimes in a marine 
insurance-lawyer's office, for models to use in court. I 
asked the meaning of this singular custom, which is quite 
common in Norway. 

"It betokens the sailing of the soul away to heaven," my 
friend answered. 

Another explanation is, that the first church of the 
Northmen was an inverted boat ; and hence, through all 
the Teutonic branches, the name for the principal aisle of 
the church became ship* or nave. 



Two Russian vessels are lying in the harbor, with meal. 
The men were walking about in the town. They were 
much betfer-looking persons than the Norwegian sailors, 
with regular features, and full beard and moustaches. They 
seemed to me to have a certain peculiar gravity and dignity 
for people of their class. Probably something of the con- 
sciousness of a great nation comes dow-n even to the lowest- 
Russia has a considerable trade with this town. 
I walked out in the afternoon on the hills behind the 
city. Here the Tromsoe citizens of wealth have erected 
villas to escape the heats of the summer, and to enjoy the 
wide landscape. It was the day after the Fourth, so my 
New-York friends will remember its temperature. I had 

* In German, Schiff ; Norwegian and Danish, Skib. 



Arctic YiLLAs. 89 

two OYercoats on, but could hardly keep warm with walk- 
ing, and was half blinded by the snow-squalls. One gentle- 
man has a kind of Chinese villa, with pretty gravelled 
walks about it, laid out among trees, which from the water 
seem a grove of fruit and shade trees, and with fountains 
and summer-houses. A green lawn runs down from one 
side of the house, with flowers in the grass. There was 
something almost touching in this effort for summer. The 
only trees that would grow there, were the dwarf birch ; 
the snow yet lay deep at the foot of the lawn ; and the 
only flowers were the sweet Arctic fiora, which winter can- 
not drive away, the yellow ranunculus ; the wild violet, here 
almost yellow ; the pink heather blossom ; the white multi- 
berry flower, and our unfailing friends, the butter-cup and 
dandelion. Otherwise no shrub or fruit or vegetable — 
even potatoes can hardly endure the climate. The view 
from the 5w.wzmer-houses was the usual grand, desolate, Nor- 
wegian scenery of this latitude, mighty snow-peaks of jag- 
ged outline running down into dark, broken, twisted rock- 
bases, with broad reaches of water, gloomily hidden or 
suddenly revealed in the scurrying snow-squalls sweeping 
across it, 

THE LTNGEN FIORD. 

The Lyngen -Fiord attracted my attention, as we sailed 
on from Tromsoe, from its mention in Miigge's charming 
romance. The scenery of it is truly grand. In the upper 
portions, owing to the condensation of the air, and the col- 
lecting of clouds by the hills, the climate is singularly mild 



90 . TheNoese-Folk. 

and genial. Here grain sometimes ripens — tlie highest grain- 
growing land in the world — though at Tromsbe, only the 
dwarf-birch flourishes, and at Hammerfest, which is but a 
little distance, not even potatoes or the birch can live. 

We pass now many glaciers, and occasionally cliffs of 
limestone. 

The Jekulsfiord was indicated as remarkable, for having 
the only sea-glacier in Norway— that is the only glacier 
emptying into the sea. With all these glaciers, are plainly 
to be seen the signs so often indicated by Agassiz ; the 
moraines, or masses of rock and stone pushed on by the 
slowly-descending ice, the semi-circular form of the mouth, 
and the protruding blue ice — with, as we hear, deep cre- 
vasses on the sides of the mountains, down which the ice- 
floods make their way. 

Our bad weather is beginning to disappear, and the sun 
shone out brightly as we entered the beautiful Alten Fiord, 
in which are the famous copper-works. The inner branch of 
the Fiord is called Kaafiord, where is a famous headland, 
Bosekop. The highest peaks are about 3,000 feet high ; 
many of the hills rounded by ice-floods are visible. The vil- 
lage with the green slopes, and the pretty houses of the 
proprietor. Colonel Thomas, looked very pleasantly • as we 
came to anchor. The works are a little without the village. 
One of the most singular sights from the steamer, is the dif- 
ferent lines of the old sea-beach, plainly visible some fifty 
feet or more above the present water-level. The highest^of 
these ancient sea-beaches is now two hundred and forty feet 
above the sea, showing that the land has been elevated dur- 



TheIcelandee. 91 

ing the historic period, that distance. It is curious that the 
elevation is greater here than towards the north, so that 
there is a slope towards Hammerfest.* 

The copper found in these mines is the common yellow 
pyrites. The rocks are clay-slate, limestone, and hyper- 
sthene, green stone, with a peculiar kind of sandstone, or 
granular quartz. 

As we lay at anchor, a young gentleman — an Icelander — 
came on board, from the Catholic Mission recently estab- 
lished in this neighborhood. I had known some of his 
friends in Copenhagen, and we soon made each other's 
acquaintance. There seems to me about all the Icelanders 
I have met, a peculiar raciness and enthusiasm. We had a 
long conversation together, in which I inquired of the mis- 
sion and its objects. It was commenced, he stated, by a 
Russian gentleman, who had lost his estates in Russia, from 
his conversion to the Catholic faith — the Baron de Djun- 
kowsky, or Pete Etienne, as he is called now. 

The mission consists of seven priests, two French and 
three German, beside himself. They have a chapel and 
have, prepared a catechism as well as a kind of ascetical 
work. A seminary and college will be opened later. He is 
very warm about his friend. 

" He is a noble man, Mr. B.," he says • " such a man as 
the Holy Xavier was." He states that the Baron is the 
Apostolic Prefect of Iceland, the Faroes, Lapland, Grreen- 
land, and Polar America, 



* Forbes' Glaciers of Norway, p. 84 and 96, 



.-•-""'^ 



92 The Nokbe-Folk. 

They are to revive the five bishoprics which flourished 
here in the early Christian times, and they want hundreds 
of priests. The great question yet is, whether they are a 
legal community. They are buying land, and they refuse 
to pay tithes, so that they hope soon to have the question 
of their independency of the State Church brought before 
the courts or the government.* 

"It is truly a question of liberty in religion," he says. 
" But we are obliged to present it as a question of education. 
At present, we are only an educational establishment — and 
there is no law in Norway against schools by foreigners." 

I had some very free conversation with him as to his rea- 
sons for joining the Jesuit mission. " I know," he said, in 
English, " I leave the faith of my fathers, though not of the 
ancient Icelandic folk — but to me at this time, the Church 
Catholique seems the only democratic church. If I was in 
America, it might be different. Look at us here ! We 
alone ask for toleration — such as you give even to the Mor- 
mons — and this Lutheran church does try to crush us. We 
are seeking to carry the cross among the poor Finns, and 
these rich pastors say, ' No : you must pay for our salaries I 
you must bring in the tenths I and you must keep up the 
State-church !' We will not do this. No : I would rather 
go to Siberia as my father, the baron, has done once." 

We spoke afterwards of Iceland and her literature. 

* Later information shows that the Mission has been legalized. A 
new Catholic Church — the first in Norway — the Church of St. Olaf, 
was consecrated August 24, 1856, in Cbristiania. 



Talk. 9& 

" All !" he said, " Mr. B,, if you could only read our old 
sagas in the Icelandic I They are grand. I do think of 
them every day — such vigor and fearlessness I We have 
nothing like them in these days. Those old chieftains who 
conquered in all countries of Europe — and who sailed away 
on the unknown seas as the crows flew, and feared never — 
and finally even reached your noble country. Ah ! what 
have we now like them ! 

"People do never acknowledge what they have gained 
from the Northmen. Do you think they do ? Your jury- 
trial — ^your free speech — and your respect for women — are 
they not from our ancestors ? Christianity has much effected 
— ^but I do not believe it so much implanted respect for wo- 
men as the old Norse habits and character did. Pardon ! 
that I run on so. Will you take snuff ?" 

We walked up and down the deck, continuing our ani- 
mated conversation. I asked if he would care to live in 
Iceland ? No : he would not. It was dull, and was now 
only a colony and a depressed colony of Denmark. " When 
I settle, it shall be in Free Amerique, where all sects can 
have toleration. Europe has much to learn from you in 
tolerance and free allowance of every religious opinion. Do 
you see how these Norwegians avoid me ? I am a wolf, 
because I am become a Catholique. They say, ' See ! he's a 
Jesuit. He wants an auto-da-fe here ! We shall have nuns 
and a pare aux cerfs again I' Les hetes ."' 

I asked him about the Finns and Lapps, whom they were 
trying to convert. He gave a better account of them than 
I had heard from the Norwegians. " A simple, serious 



94 TheNoese^Folk. 

folk," he said, " who could not leave their nomade life, but 
who might be much improved. Not especially stupid or infe- 
rior, and very grateful for kindness." He thought they had_ 
been much neglected and sometimes oppressed by the Nor- 
wegians. I found he spoke German and French as well as 
he did English. 

The valley of the Alten, " the richest and most important 
on the coast," according to Mr. Lallerstedt, has been 
selected by the Swedish writers against Russia, " as the 
point where her ambitious attempts against Scandinavia 
will centralize." The gulf has three mouths, and each one 
leads to an excellent port, well sheltered against ocean storms 
and capable of being well defended. 

"A second Sebastopol," says Mr. Lallerstedt, "could 
easily be erected here." The valley, rich in forests and metals 
and inhabitants, can furnish the materials for great enter- 
prises. A direct bridle-road to the East connects the Alten 
valley with the Muonio and the Torneo, which from the fron- 
tier between Sweden and Russia. It would need but few days 
to march Russian battalions across from Torneo to this 
point. Russia has also in the White Sea, fifteen thousand 
tons of merchant-shipping, in which ten thousand men, 
with artillery and provisions for three months, could with- 
out difficulty be embarked. There is nothing on the whole 
coast, north of Trondhjem, to oppose a united attack, thus 
made by land and sea. With Alten in her hands, Russia 
at once has a good port towards the Atlantic, securely 
defended and open, owing to the influence of the confor- 



Dangek fkom Russia. 



95 



mation of the land and the Gulf-stream, for most of the 
year. 

So the Swedish alarmists have pictured the danger. 
They have, perhaps, overdrawn the. peculiar beauties and 
fertilities of the Alten valley. 

It is certainly much more genial in climate than Ham- 
merfest, where nothing grows, but it would not present 
itself as a very splendid prize for an ambitious Northern 
people, desiring to burst out towards the south and the 
sea. For nine months in the year, it is a cold, gloomy 
place, and no large population could ever subsist there. 

Still it is, perhaps, well to have called the attention 
of Europe to the possible danger. 

TEMPERATURE. 

"For eleven years (ISS'Z-iS)," says Forbes, "the average temper- 
ature (of Alten) at 9 a. m., was 34°. 50; at 9 p, m., 32°. 83 ; mean, 
330.66. Von Buch estimated it, solely, from the upper level of the 
Pine (640 feet above the level of the sea), at nearly 1° Keaumur, 
or 34°. 25 Fahrenheit, a remarkable coincidence. The mean tem- 
perature of February, which is decidedly the coldest month, is 
15^.4; and of August, which is usually the hottest, 64°. 3. This 
range is, however, small, compared with the actual extremes on 
particular days, which I find to be the following during three years 
for which they are specified, but of which those for 1848 only are 
certainly taken with self -registering instruments : — 





1S46. 


1847. 


1848. 


Maximum 


83°.3 
14°. 8 


84M 
3M 


86° .9 

20°.2 


Minimum 

Range 


98M 


87°.8 


107M 





96 The Norse-Folk. 

Hence it appears that the thermometer rarely, if ever, falls below 
the zero of Fahrenheit, whilst there is not, perhaps, another part of 
the earth's surface on this parallel where mercury does not freeze in 
winter. The fall of rain and snow in these three years was only 
18.19, 16.81, and 17.19 inches." 

Alten is known as the most northerly grain-growing town 
in the world — barley being raised here. 

"Von Buch has remarked, that in Norway and Lapland the planes 
of vegetation of the pine and birch run nearly parallel to the plane 
of perpetual snow, the intervals, as observed by him at Alten, being 
given by the following table of limiting heights of vegetation above 
the sea : — 

VEGETATION IN LATITUDE 70*. 

The Pine (Pinus sylvestris) ceases at 237 metres = 780 English feet. The Birch 
{Betula alba) ceases at 482 metres = 1580 English feet. Bilberry ( Vaccinium 
Myrtillus) ceases at 2030 English feet. Mountain Willow {Salix mirsmites) ceases 
at 2150 English feet. Dwarf Birch (Betula nava) at 2740 English feet. The snow 
line, 3480 English feet." — Fortes' Glaciers of Norway. 



HAPTER VIII 



HAMMERFEST. 



This is the most northerly town in Europe, lat. tO° 40' 
on the same degree in America is perpetual snow, and 
scarcely any human life. 

We reached it at eleven o'clock, p.m., in broad daylight. 
There was a question, whether there was any hotel there at 
all, so that our iSrst steps were in search of one. We were 
directed to one of the best-looking merchant's houses, were 
received by a dignified host, and at once shown to neat, 
quiet rooms, furnished in the usual style, with narrow beds 
with huge feather beds for coverlids, chairs, a pretty birch 
table set into the wall (we see much exquisite furniture 
made of the polished birch) papered walls, and uncarpeted 
floors. The house has an immense number of apartments, a 
large billiard-room, a pretty supper-room, and the family 
parlor below stairs. One of the rooms below is the store 
and counting-house, where is kept for sale almost every 
article needed by man, and capable of being brought or sold 
here, from fish-oil and reindeer skins up to oranges and 
thermometers. 

As soon as possible we were out exploring the little town. 

5 97 



98 The Norse-Folk. 

It was nearly twelve, but the hour seemed no nearer bed- 
time than in the morning. Hammerfest consists of some 
three streets, a square, and a church — the square having a 
dangerous-looking well in the centre. It was horribly 
muddy, and impregnated with the smell of the boiling 
fish oil. 

The wharves were hung with the stock-fisch (cod), tied 
together and hanging over poles. The great object of every 
traveller to Hammerfest, besides seeing the Arctic town, is 
to get a view of the midnight sun — so we soon started, ladies 
and all, to climb the hill behind the town. 

There were represented in our party England, Ireland, 
Germany, Iceland, Norway, and America ; and the latter 
had the largest deputation. There was something singu- 
larly fascinating in thus strolling off at midnight with a goo^ 
company, and still enjoying broad day-light. The ladies 
were helped along-^in part over the snow, and then over 
the springing, beautiful moss, till we stood on the summit. 
The sun was just setting, that is, approaching the moun- 
tains at the north .; but contrary to my expectation, the 
light was not at all the warm light of sunset, but rather 
that of morning. 

Our^ artist, who has been making a sketch, says that 
Humboldt assured him that he would never find warm colors 
in the scenery ; that they were always cold and severe. 
Hammerfest lay below on its little circular bay,- hid from the 
south by a rocky point, now beautifully green, and marked 
by the crosses of the grave-yard, laid out among the rocks. 
No tree or shrub, or garden-bed was anywhere visible, though 



TheMidi^ightSun. 99 

beneath our feet, on the ragged cliff, bloomed flowers so ex- 
quisite, as no gardener's art has produced them. Even the 
dwarf-birch has ceased here to grow, except in the deepest 
valleys. 

The wind began to blow from the l^orth, and there were 
fears of the clouds, which already half covered the setting 
sun. ^ 

Our Icelander, who loves to quote the Sagas, says the 
ISTorth wind was always to the Scandinavians a good sign. 
The old heroes are represented as praying to the North ; 
and in one battle of the peasants of Sweden with Gustavus 
Adolphus, they are said to have been greatly encouraged 
by a bitter North wind. To us weak modern men, the Nor- 
wegian north winds are no joke. 

" It's just five minutes of twelve 1 we shan't see it." 

" There it is above ! See the line of sunshine come down 
the mountain ! We shall have it soon I" There were a 
few moments of doubt, when the great orb burst splendidly 
forth below the cloud. " The rising sun! The midnight 
SUN I" It was a splendid spectacle — the rays sparkling 
over the beautiful Fiord, lighting up distant snowy moun- 
tains, shining back from peak to peak far away, and the 
whole sphere majestically rising and clearing away what a 
moment before had been the clouds of evening, but were 
now the mists of morning. The light, too was a different 
one, ^t least to our imagination — purer, clearer, and fresher. 
We watched the first movement, and it seemed, for a time, 
not to be upwards, but parallel with the hills, and then to 
be gradually ascending. At length we slowly descended 



lOO' The Norse-Folk. 

under the full morning sun-light to the village. It was half- 
past one, as we walked through the streets, but people 
seemed just as much up and stirring as in the day. Children 
were playing in the street, and women sewing at the win- 
dows, while many came to the doors to study the costumes 
of our ladies. " Certainly, nobody sleeps in Norway," we 
said. 

I must speak again of these gloriously long days — ^they 
are the greatest pleasure of Nordland (to an American) — 
you are always ahead in your work ; time never overtakes 
you. At first, you are hurrying in the evening, as if dark- 
ness would come upon you and you should not have time to 
finish whatever you are engaged at ; or you hasten to get 
through with an excursion, but you soon come into the habit 
of the perpetual day. The elastic air stimulates, and you 
seem to live two lives to the one in other latitudes. It be- 
comes hard to sleep. Our la,dy friends, indeed, complain ; 
they miss the evening twilight, and the curtains drawn, and 
shutters closed. One says, " she would give so much to see 
a good Paris lamp again I" 

I find that I sleep usually from one or two in the morning 
till nine, and though it is broad-day at either hour, it seems 
to make no difference. 

We found that the artist had made a beautiful sketch in 
water-colors of the place, faithfully portraying the horizon 
of iceb.erg-like peaks, faintly colored by the morning, bound- 
ing the Fiord ; the singular reddish rock rising in the mid- 
dle of the bay ; the little semi-circular town, with its red 
roofs, and green grass roofs of the peasants, and the pictur- 



Prices. 101 

esque turfed cabins of the Finns on the outskirts. He had 
been hardly an hour over it, but had wonderfully touched 
the prominent features with the true feeling of genius. 
Mr. H., we hear, is the best water-colorist on the conti- 
nent. 

THE TRADE. 

This is principally in cod and fish-oil — cod-liver oil is well 
prepared here. Hammerfest is a considerable centre of ex- 
change in furs and skins ; immense quantities of reindeer 
skins being brought there. 

I purchased two or three large, beautiful skins, to be made 
up into mats, as gifts, for which the price was only one dollar 
each. The ermine skins are six cents each ; fox skins from 
three dollars to fifteen dollars. A singular exchange is 
carried on here. Otter skins are imported, via England and 
Hamburg, from America, sold to the Russians, and carried 
by them overland to China., where they are employed to 
wrap the dead who are buried in state. There were several 
Russian vessels in the harbor from Archangel, with most 
ugly-looking sailors aboard. These bring rye and provisions 
and furs ; the stoppage of this trade by the war, was severely 
felt in Northern Norway. 

Every thing is much cheaper than I should expect, so far 
towards the ends of the earth. A good dwelling will rent 
from $60 to $80 dollars. Beef is 6 cents per pound ; mut- 
ton, 6 cents ditto ; milk, about 6 cents a quart. Butter is 
imported, as, like all the Norwegians, the inhabitants prefer 
to consume their own cream at once. A cow is worth from 



102 T H E ]Sr O E S E - F O L K . 

$12 to $20 ; horse, $100 ; reindeer, $3 ; sheep, $2 ; a labor 
er's wages from 42 cents to 63 cents a day, without food. 
The population in 1846, was 921 ; it is now 1,125. 

The English college-men who have been "roughing it" on 
the deck, are quartered at this hotel. They, with the artist, 
are going to the North Cape. The steamer which connects 
with ours, takes them within a few miles, and thence they 
proceed by open boat — the steamer itself going on to Vad- 
soe. Our hotel proves a very good one. To-day we had 
ptarmigan* and reindeers' tongues at dinner, preserved by 
the landlord in hermetically sealed cans. The only objec- 
tion to the house, as to the town, is the intolerable smell of 
burning fish-oil which pervades every thing. This landlord 
has himself been three times chosen one of the " Electors," 
for electing a member of the National Parliament. He 
says that within a fortnight there will be a new election, but 
that there is no excitement. * Hammerfest and Yadsoe and 
Tromsoe used to send one member ; now they are to send 
two. The new religious movement in Tromsoe takes all the 
public interest. 

In the afternoon, we rowed over to Mr. R.'s place, in 
order to see some reindeer, pasturing on the hills. They 
were feeding by themselves, without any herdsmen, and 
scarcely let us come within what would be shooting-dis- 
tance. They were dun-colored, and, seen through the glass, 
were very thin and ugly. The Lapps drive them down at 

* Called Ryper (Tetrao Lagopus Alpinus). 



\ 



A MONTJMENT. 103 

this season to the sea, to escape the attacks of a little 
worm which annoys them excessively. They are considered 
almost valueless now, for present use. We found the moss 
everywhere on which they feed. 

On our way back, we visited an interesting monument 
erected by the Norwegian, Swedish, and Russian govern- 
ments, to designate the terminus of the arc of the meridian, 
drawn, on a great scale, from the Danube to the Arctic. 

The following is the inscription, somewhat abbreviated : 

" Terminus Septentrionalis arcus meridiani, 25° 28', quem inde 

AB OCEANO ArCTICO AD FlUVIUM DaNUBIUM USQUE, PER NORREGIAM, 
SWECIAM, ET KOSSIAM, JUSSU ET AUSPICII ReGIS AuGUSTISSIMI, OS- 
CARI I., ImPERATORUM AuGUSTISSIMORUM, AlEXANDRI I., ATQUE 
NiCOLAI I., (1816) AD (1852,) CONTINUO LABORS EMENSI SUNT, TRIUM 

GENTIUM Geometry." 

Lat. 70° 40' 11". 

The weather to-day has been the most splendid autumn- 
like weather — the sun shining brilliantly over the Fiord and 
snowy mountains. Women and children are out walking 
on the heights, and enjoying their few glimpses of summer. 

The North Cape can easily be seen from the high hill 
behind the town. 

Yon Buch states that to get the mean temperature of 
Hammerfest, one must ascend from three hundred to four 
hundred feet higher than the pass of the St. Gothard, in the 
Alps, It is an instance of the bonds which the great Ocean 
river makes between most distant points, that, in 1823, 
casks of palm-oil drifted ashore here, which were traced to 
a wreck on Cape Lopez, Africa. This stream of warm 



104 The Norse-Folk. 

water alone must make a vast difference in the climate of 
Norway. It is well known that drift-ice is never seen, even 
at Hammerfest, or at nearly tl°, while on the American 
coast it appears at 41°. 

At Trondhjem, the difference of temperature between 
January and July is 40° Fahr., while at Jakutzk, Siberia, 
in the same latitude, away from the influence of the sea, it 
is 114°, and the mercury is sometimes frozen for three 
months in the year.* 

In walking about the town, one of us said to a boy, 
cutting cod for salting, ''What do you do with the back- 
bones and bones?" "Feed the cattle, sir," was the answer; 
and it is true. Even the horses here must sometimes eat 
refuse fish and bones. 

July. — One of the "Fjeld Finner," or Finns of the 
Mountain, was at our hotel to-day. He wore the same 
dress as the one on the boat, though his blouse was of 
fine sheep-skin, and his shoes were of reindeer-skin. The 
bright colors of their high caps give a very picturesque 
effect to a company of them, seen together. 

I induced this man to take off his cap, and felt the 
shape of his head, much to his astonishment, no doubt. 
He had an excellently-formed head ; forehead strong and 
full, though not high ; the frontal portions of the brain 
rising finely, perhaps highest on the Phrenologic organ 
of "firmness ; and the backside of the head not too full 

* Forbes. 



A Finn. 105 

in proportion. His hair was Kght and very long ; eye 
grey, and cheek-bones very high, the broadest part of 
the face being at that point ; mouth large, and chin small, 
with a scanty moustache and imperial, as is usual. A face, 
I should say, showing some weakness but good capabilities 
of improvement. On the whole, bearing out what my 
Icelandic friend had said. 

On going off at night to the steamer, our landlord would 
ftot go into any accounts, but said, "call it a dollar a 
day," which, considering that it included use of boat, pre- 
paration of four meals and rooms, was cheap enough. 



5* 



CHAPTER IX. 

AN :&.RCTIC DINNER AND EXCURSION. 

Our voyage South began in beautiful weather, like an 
Italian summer, making the coast seem another region 
compared with the view on our upward trip. We expect 
to be in Trondhjem on the fourteenth day from leaving 
it, which is the quickest time in which this trip can be 
made by the government steamers. 

On our arrival at Tromsoe, we found a pleasant dinner- 
party prepared to meet us, at our friend's, Mr. . The 

houses here are usually very comfortable ; this is like a 
German house, with many tastefully-furnished but uncarpeted 
rooms. Reindeer-skin mats you see about, and snow-shoes, 
some six feet long at the outside door. The windows are 
double, with French casements. Beautiful flowers are at 
almost every window. 

The cooking is much like the cooking of a nice German 
family, and the dinner had the same general arrangement. 
The pudding — ^which the Norwegians make inimitably — 
coming in between the other courses ; the game dishes 
being eaten with sour preserves, and the dessert as with 

106 



The Norwegian Table. 107 

us, fruits- and nuts. One preserve, which is very popular 
with all classes, is the multiberry {moUiheer) , a small berry 
growing close to the ground. 

The crowning dish of Scandinavia, is also in use here, 
the ^^ rogrbd^'^ eaten with cream and sugar. May America 

soon be blessed with that delicious mixture for a refreshing 
summer-dish ! 

The wines used were mostly from the Moselle and the 
Rhine. The most characteristic things to be observed were, 
the hearty, manly bearing of the company, and the repeated 
toasting. I think one would seldom see a table-company 
in Germany, where there were so many strong, manly-look- 
ing persons, and with such a free, independent manner. The 
conversation shoWed them all to be persons of cultivation, as 
well as of much natural intelligence. There was a great 
deal of quick wit and fun going on, constantly across the 
table. The Norwegian women impress one very favorably 
- — as quick, intelligent, and kind in manner, with an equal 
bearing towardsj the men, as if accustomed to respect. I 
have seen, thus far, very few beauties among the upper 
classes ; the climate evidently tells on them. 

* We append the recipe : — " Take three and a half pounds of juice 
of currants and three pints of water and sugar, ad lib., with a 
flavoring of almonds or cinnamon (an ounce or an ounce and a half.) 
Boil this mixture, and when it begins to boil add one and a quarter 
pound of ground rice or a pound of sago. Let it boil a quarter of an 
liour, and stir it often ; afterwards it is to be poured into moulds or 
tea-cups, which have been wet with cold water, aL \ left to cool. 
Then it should be turned out, and eaten with cream anu sugar. Any 
other juice of acid fruit will do as well." 



108 TheNokse-Folk. 

Almost immediately after the soup a toast was proposed 
— " The strangers " — with a neat little speech from the host. 
We bowed our response. 

Soon after came another toast to the Amtmand — then to 
the lady of the Foged, who was not present ; then from one 
of the company to the hostess and to the host — each accom- 
panied with a speech or a joke. Towards the close, our 
host offered one toast very seriously, alluding to the Cramp- 
ton difficulties — " Peace between England and America .'" 
The jovial amtmand, with a very hearty, pleasant bit of an 
oration, gave us " The Thirty-one Stars of the American 
Flag!" 

I responded with a toast in German, to the " Norwegian 
Constitution I" 

In the course of the dinner, I told the amtmand, about the 
character of his office, as we get it in " Afraja" — the cruel 
and tyrannical amtmand of Tromsoe. He had not seen the 
novel, though they all knew about Mligge. They laughed 
at his romance of the oppression of the Finns by the Nor- 
wegians ; and his sketches of Finnish magicians and maid- 
ens. The feeling towards the Finns and Lapps, seemed to 
be very much like the feeling of an intelligent Western 
company towards the Indians. The poetry of the race is 
quite obscured in their debased or drunken habits. The 
Lapps are simply ignorant, dirty men, who live in a barbar- 
ous way among reindeers, or who catch the cod and the 
ducks which the Norwegians want. Still Mligge is right. 
They present a fair foil to the Norwegians, such as a drama- 
tist would seize upon — weak, poetic, roving and unsettled, 



Dinner Chat. 109 

while their masters are strong, practical, steady, and per- 
haps tyrannical. They have lost, too, their old possessions 
and habitations before the conquering race of Northmen. 
Without doubt, they have suffered much injustice. 

" Well: we shall see," said the Amtmand. " I have ordered 
a little tribe to meet us this afternoon in the valley — rein- 
deer and all. They are generally, at this time of year, far 
away on the mountains." 

I had some conversation with one gentleman — a teacher 
— on the Public Schools, 

"We have many obstacles, Herr B.," he said in Grerman. 
" Our profession is not yet sufficiently respected here. We 
can not open as thorough and cultivated schools as we 
desire." 

I expressed my admiration of their Drawing-schools for 
working-men. He said, that they found their influence ex- 
cellent on ^he craftsmen. 

" Do the common people read ?" I asked. '' Ja wohl ! — 
certainly," he answered, "all read the Bible and Psalm- 
book, and many of them other works." 

I inquired about these fishermen on the coast. They 
were rather wild and ungoverned, he said, "but they all 
read, and are intelligent." 

I was talking with another gentleman, a sea-officer, of 
the coast and the coast-scenery, and in our conversation, 
I asked him about that which is the terror of every child's 
life in geographical description, the Mdlstrom, He laughed, 
and said, in English, "That is a myt (myth) I There is 
noting in it — noting. I have seen your whirl-streams in 



110 TheISTokse-Folk. 

America, they are quite as bad. It only is a rapid stream 
of tide between two rocks, sometime a leetle dangerous to 
an unskillful boatsman. Noting more ; noting 1" 

''Like Hurl-gate, near New York, probably I" 

" Yees ; very likely, so as I remember." 

" Gentlemen," said our host, rising, " you know it is 
our custom, before leaving the table, to drink one toast. 
(To me.) We are from the South, and it is our habit 
always to remember that at a festival — I propose our 
friends at the South! gentlemen 1" This was drank heart- 
ily, and we left for the drawing-room. There each shook 
hands with the hostess, and thanked her, and then cigars 
and coffee were brought, and the pleasant chat was kept up. 

"It is time for the excursion," said the active Amtmand, 
*' and we must prepare for rough walking I" It was now 
t o'clock, and we had five miles for ladies and all to walk 
through a marsh and wood, before we could reach the 
Lapp encampment, which our friends would show us. Think 
of such a walk into the forest in any other latitude at this 
hour I The light out-doors was a pleasant full afternoon 
light yet, and in the Northern summer, no one thinks of 
dusk or sleep. Nature leaves you untrammelled. 

We crossed the piece of water which surrounds Tromsoe 
in boats, and taking up our companions from the steamer, 
began the walk up the valley. It was an excursion to 
remember. The paths wound through a kind of thicket, 
which in the warm valley, showed a much greater variety 
of vegetation than we had seen on the hill by the town. 

There was the mountain-ash (the Scotch rowan and 



The Walk. Ill 

Norwegian ron) ; and elder berries, and aiders, willows, 
and birch, and a number whose names I did not know. 

On the ground, we plucked the yellow violet and white 
multiberry {ruhus chcemmmorus) , and pink-heath, and yellow 
ranunculus, and now and then an anemone, with the sweet 
flower of the blue-berry or the hare-bell. 

The weather was as different from what we had ex- 
perienced here in going up, as summer from winter. A 
rich warm afternoon-light filled the valley with almost a 
glory, calling into short existence thousands and thousands 
of little insects and moths. Above us were the mighty 
hills, whence, whenever we left our merry party, we heard 
as in the most solemn stillness, the gentle continuous 
rustling of the torrents melting from the snow in long 
silvery streamlets — "the whispering of Nature," as one of 
our Norwegian friends said. 

The walk was a very hard one for the ladies — especially 
for one of the Norwegian — we had to carry them over 
torrents, guide them through morasses, and rescue them 
from occasional snow-drifts which yet remained even in 
summer-heats. The Norwegian gentlemen were evidently 
accustomed to such escorting, and did their duty in a most 
creditable manner. C , a lively fellow from this Pro- 
vince, who only spoke some half dozen words in any 
language beside his own, made himself as agreeable as 
if he had the whole vocabulary of each — trying now Ger- 
man, now French, now English, or even Latin. 

At length, we came out on a beautiful green intervale, 
with a brook dashing through it, lying at the base of great 



112 The N oese- Folk . 

snow-capped hills. We were almost upon them, before we 
perceived an encampment of little turf and wood huts, with 
an enclosure for cattle, surrounded by a turf and bush 
hedge. One or two Laplanders stood quietly among them ; 
the whole a perfect fac-simile of the pictures in children's 
story-books. A place to rest was made on the green 
grass for the ladies, and the refreshments were brought out, 
while the Lapps were hurrying down their reindeer from the 
mountains. I went out, in the mean time, to examine the 
huts. They were built closely, of turf, with a hole in the 
top for the smoke, like an Indian wigwam. The reindeer- 
cheese was shown to us, buried in the ground, in wooden 
vessels ; the milk was in heavy wooden pails. The spoons 
were of wood and horn, curiously cut. We bought a few, 
and then my American friend attempted to buy some of 
their rare jewelry, which they have kept a long time among 
their tribes, but which they occasionally sell to travellers. 
They would not part with it. 

Of course, the great interest was in the reindeer. The 
first glimpse we caught of them, was as of a flock of little 
black animals on the snow at the top of the mountain. 
Gradually they drew nearer to us, and we could see that 
they were driven by some little Lapland-dogs, and two boys 
with whips. Every straggler from the herd was at once 
brought in by the dogs, and the whole mass was directed 
towards us. Finally they came, tramping and snuffing, and 
with a low grunting noise, into the valley, and passed us, 
some two hundred of them — the bucks bent down under 
their grand antlers, the does very thin and scraggy, and the 



The Reindeee. 113 

little fawns, dun-colored and graceful — all running into the 
enclosure. They are, as I before observed, a small deer — 
much more so than I expected — and, at this season, pecu- 
liarly ugly. Their motion is a kind of quick trot — not a 
bound, like that of our deer — and, it is said, they will keep 
this up for ninety miles a day. The boy, to show us the 
milk, threw a lasso some twenty feet over a doe, and 
pulled her up towards him. He milked her in a little 
wooden vessel. The milk is very rich in quality, richer 
than cow's milk — and not disagreeable. We are told there 
are two species of moss, which the reindeer feed on — one, a 
lichen (rangiferina), with a broad pale-green leaf, which we 
observe everywhere on the rocks (such as grows on dead 
trees in America) ; and another, the little white Iceland- 
moss, which the Lapps keep and dry for winter. They also 
eat the lemming-rat. The deer are greatly troubled by flies 
and insects, and, either to escape these or to get their 
favorite moss, they draw their masters down at this season 
to the hills near the sea. 

It is a curious fact, that these natural migrations of the 
reindeer have been the oc-casion almost of a war between 
Norway and the colossal empire at the North. In former 
times, Finnish fishermen used to follow their business on the 
fishing-places of the Norwegians, and, in return, the Nor- 
wegian Lapps were allowed to cross into Finland during 
winter, for the moss for their reindeer. The Russian Lapps 
liad the same privilege in summer on these coasts. This 
exchange was settled, even by a treaty between Norway 
and Sweden, as far back as 1151. 



114: The JSToese-Folk. 

After a time, when Russia had .conquered Finland, her 
government expressed itself dissatisfied with this state of 
things, and demanded greater privileges for Russian fisher- 
men, and even stations on the coast. These were refused. 
It then refused all entrance into Finland for the Lapps and 
their reindeer, and when the poor animals absolutely forced 
their way to their usual food, they were killed, and great 
injury was thus inflicted on the Norwegian Lapps. These 
latter attributed their suffering to their own government, 
and were exasperated once or twice even into bloody out- 
breaks. The Norwegian government sent a commission 
into Finland, to quiet the Lapps, and demanded explana- 
tions of the Russian government. No satisfactory replies 
were ever received, and thus the matter still rests. 

As I had expressed my desire of making some inquiries 
of the Lapps themselves, especially on their religious faith, 
my friends called forward one of the young herdsmen, and 
introduced me, through an interpreter. The man was 
dressed in a kind of reindeer-skin frock, with a red visor- 
less cap, and blue trowsers, tied at the ankle. He took off 
his cap, and showed a good, intelligent face, and well-shaped 
forehead, with the usual features — high cheek-bones, small 
eyes, and long light hair. His height was perhaps five feet 
six inches. He was a kind of servant or member of the 
household; the chief of which possessed these reindeer. 

" Can you read ?" I asked, through the interpreter. 

He answered that he had learned of the schoolmasters 
(they go from house to house). 

" Can you read the Bible ?" 



Talk with a Lapp. 115 

'' Oh, yes ; lie read it almost every day. He had been 
confirmed under Lestadius." 

This was the great preacher and missionary among them, 
and the originator of this remarkable religious movement, 
of which I have already spoken. He died in 1841. 

" Do you believe you will live after you die." 

" Everyone will live," he answered, very seriously ; " but 
whether he should attain the blessed life, he was not sure ; 
he was trying very hard, but sometimes he was in doubt ?" 

" Do you think you will live above or below ?" 

The answer was remarkable : " God is everywhere, above 
and below. He will do with me what is good !" 

I was desirous of seeing if any of the old superstitions 
still existed among' them. 

" When there is a storm among the mountains, do you 
not believe the wicked spirits are at work ?" 

'^ They are always busy in evil, both among men, and in 
the- mountains," he answered. 

" Do you believe in the old Jumala (the heathen god) ?" 

I understood from his answer that he considered Jumala 
to be Satan. 

He professed also his belief in Christ as "part man and 
part God." 

I asked, finally, whether he would like to live in the cities, 
to go into business, and make money, and have a fine house. 

He made a gesture of utter disgust. "He would not 
hear of it ; he was only used to this," and he stretched 
out his hand to the mountains and clouds. "He could 
not leave the rocks and the reindeer. He would die I" 



116 The J^orse-Folk. 

There was sometlimg in Ms simple and sententious replies 
that impressed one much. His manner was very serious, 
and as it were, half-abstracted, as if of a man living 
habitually under principles and thoughts, not seen by the 
eye or easily expressed. He seemed a savage when I first 
addressed him, but I shook hands with him at parting, 
as if we belonged to more than the Brotherhood of hu- 
manity. 

The old chief had returned now from taking care of 
the reindeer. I was introduced to him, as from America. 
His countenance lighted up at once, and he said, "There 
is where the son of Lestadius has gone. Does the gentle- 
man know him ?" I said no ; though I had often heard 
the name of the good man. 

He seemed pleased ; and spoke a few words more of 
the old missionary with great feeling. We held then an- 
other theological conversation. His replies were by no 
means so original as those of the young man, and were 
mostly Scripture phrases. 

Once he said, in reply to a question about the future 
life, "Men are on earth, the bad below, and the good 
above." 

Of the wicked ? " They go into everlasting punishment." 
Of Jumala and the heathen superstitions, he expressed 
an utter disbelief. " Is there any fear of demons or evil 
spirits now among your people ?" 

" No ; except with the poorest persons. We believe in 
the Redemption through Christ. We do not care for any- 
thing else." 



Religious Opinions. 117 

Is there mucli drinking in your tribe ?" 

"No, none. We never drink now. The spirit of God 
has been among us." 

I tried to draw out something more about this strange 
Revival. He would not answer much ; but what he said, 
was spoken with great solemnity. 

His opinions on religious facts were very clear. It struck 
me that he generally felt himself too far advanced for 
my questions. At the close, he turned suddenly to me 
with the remarkable question, '' Does the gentleman be- 
lieve in baptism of children ?" My friends explained that 
this subject was greatly agitated just now among the Lapps, 
and that there were two parties on it. 

This chief was a believer in the old creed of the baptism 
of children. 

I felt diffident about explaining my own views, knowing 
that my Norwegian friends would look on a doubter of 
that article, as some one quite out of the pale of society, 
and perhaps a little crazed. I explained that the majority 
of the Christian Church in America, and my own religious 
friends, generally believed in it, but that I, historically and 
morally, preferred it as a sign of voluntary conversion, or 
union with the religious body. 

The most touching and interesting thing to me in the 
conversations, was the evident feeling towards the old Mis- 
sionary, Lestadius, and the deep, solemn religious faith 
which they had gained from him. 

There are many splendid monuments scattered over the 
world for the great and wise, but what of them could be half 



118 The Norse-Folk. 

so beautiful as the unspoken gratitude and daily memory 
inciting to noble thoughts, in the hearts of such poor crea- 
tures as these ? One could die happy, to know that one's 
name was thus breathed with the prayers of the depressed 
and the ignorant 1 

About ten o'clock, we started on our walk back, in a 
beautiful afternoon sun-light. The sky was soft and genial 
in tone, and the colors like those of an Indian summer, 
delicate violet and warm purple, with a dreamy haze on the 
horizon. Our common coats felt too warm. We had left 
our thermometer behind, but I am assured it frequently rises 
at this season to 94° Fahrenheit. Think of this in the lati- 
tude of Greenland and Baffin's Bay (69° 40') ! 

In walking through the thicket, I was in company with 
an intelligent gentleman of Tromsoe, and we had some con- 
versation on the rephes of the young Lapp. 

(I There was something very peculiar about that Lesta- 
dius," said he ; " his great talent lay in a kind of sensuous 
and vivid presenting of Scripture truth, which often was 
really coarseness. I remember an instance. He had been 
once speaking of believers partaking of the communion sup- 
per, and then going off to commit sin, just as before. ' Ye 
eat the body of Christ I' said he. 'Does it digest? Do 
ye take it into your vitals ? Does it become your blood and 
your life ? No : ye are hypocrites ! Ye go out into secret 
places* and spit it all out P " 

Another time he was preaching of the marriage of the 
Church to Christ. '' Do ye call yourselves brides of Christ, 



Walk Back. 119 

ye selfish and sensual Christians ! No : ye were never mar- 
ried. Ye are prostitutes and harlots ! Beasts have ye 
married !" 

" Still," said my friend, " he had a way of coming straight 
to the conscience of these poor creatures in a wonderful 
manner, and he spent his life among them." 

I asked what he considered to be the cause of this reli- 
gious movement among them. 

" It seems to me," said he, " that the preaching of Lesta- 
dius was the origin of it ; and then the grand solitary Na- 
ture in which these people live, has cultivated the deepest 
religious feeling. People call it fanatical — and so it is — 
still I have been the witness that it has called forth even 
among the Norwegians in Tromsoe, the most serious and 
solemn desires to live more really for what is not seen — and 
I know that the influence has been exceedingly deep and 
powerful on the morals and life of many people. 

'^ Whether it may be God's spirit," he continued, " or 
some less natural influence, I believe that now all through 
Europe, there are strong movements for a more deep and 
real religious life. We hear of it in Switzerland and in Ger- 
many, and even in France." 

Such words spoken under the shadow of great mountains, 
with the silent grandeur of Nature solemnly attesting, where 
no other ear Mstens, from stranger to stranger, crossing each 
other's paths a moment on the endless journey, have an effect 
*which in no way appears on paper or when repeated after- 
wards. 

When we reached the boats, our ladies were very much 
fatigued, so that we left them on the steamer, and we went 



120 The Norse Folk. 

across to take supper with our friends. It was now half 
past eleven — ^the children were up at the house and the sun 
poured a blaze of light into the rooms. After a pleasant 
meal, we bade good-bye, and towards one o'clock came on 
board the steamer, while the rising run was lighting up the 
whole Fiord. It was impossible to sleep under the beautiful 
morning, and we walked the decks in the mild summer air, 
and talked of the interesting day and the pleasant people of 
Tromsbe, till the morning of more southern latitudes had 
really come. 

COAST VOYAGE. 

We stopped again at Alten on our voyage back, and as 
we lay at anchor, the Baron Djunkowski, or Pere Btienne, 
the head of the Catholic Mission, came aboard. lie was a 
small, dark, quick man, with Russian features, who impressed 
you at once as a person of marked ability. His tact and 
readiness in the twenty minutes which he spent on the deck 
of the steamer, were extraordinary. Each person he ad- 
dressed in his own language — (I heard him speak five lan- 
guages in that time), and to each he spoke just what was 
most likely to be in accordance with his habits of thought. 
To me he said, after a few words, '' We are attempting here, 
sir, just what you in America have so nobly solved — the ques- 
tion of toleration of all sects, under the law. It is the ques- 
tion of liberty ! I do hope, sir, to visit one day your coun- 
tree. The Church Catholique owes to it much gratitude. 1 
have not the pleasure of knowing many of the Catholique 
clergy in America, but we hear of Archbishop Hughes. I 
hope to see America — the land of the future 1" 



TheCoast. 121 

I wished liim every success in his struggle for religious 
toleration, and we parted very cordially. 

We stopped but a half-day at Trondhjem, and took leave 
of our pleasant company and the gentlemanly captain, to 
take a large Hamburg steamer, for Bergen. Our new cap- 
tain again speaks EngHsh excellently. We meet many of the 
fishing-boats, or jechts, bound from Bergen for Finmark. 
They make two voyages, one in the spring for oil, and an- 
other for fish. The salt fish is sent to Spain ; the dried, to 
Italy, and sometimes to South America. Our captain says, 
there is a great change in the habits both of the boatmen 
and fishermen within a few years : so much less intoxica- 
tion. He attributes it in part, to the greater import and 
use of coffee in place of liquors. 

The coast between Trondhjem and Bergen is very rich in 
historic associations. A Norwegian was on board, who had 
been employed by government in selecting sites on the 
coast for lighthouses. Though, apparently, not an educated 
man, he knew perfectly every scene celebrated in the ancient 
history and sagas of the country. He pointed me out many 
famous burial mounds, where already some of the most inter- 
esting objects of antiquity had been found. He stated, and 
I find that to be the general opinion, that the abandonment 
of agriculture for fishing, had greatly reduced the population 
of the coast, and that the country produced more in the 
twelfth century than it does now ; '' in 1812, there was such 
a famine, that people were obliged to eat the bark of 
trees." 

These views are to be received with much allowance. 

6 



122 The Noese-Folk. 

From the nature of the soil, and the appearance of the coast, 
it does not seem possible it could ever have supported a very 
numerous population by agriculture. When men lived prin- 
cipally by hunting and fishing, I can well understand that a 
country like Norway, with its deep Fiords and inaccessible 
forests, the refuge of wild animals of every kind, might have 
been much more resorted to than the more open and fertile 
lands to the South, and that thus a population might have 
sprung up, very numerous in proportion to the resources of 
the country. This, with the confusion of names for different 
tribes^ is the probable cause of the representation by ancient 
writers, of the immense population of Scandinavia. 

Molde. — This is one of the most Swiss-like villages in 
Norway. It is built on the edge of what seems a lake, 
though really a Fiord, with green fields and wooded hills 
rising abruptly behind, till they disappear among mountains 
The front is sparkling water, with a fore-ground of sharp 
jutting snow-peaks. We counted eighty-one at one point 
of view. The air has been, to-day, the most deliciously 
balmy; the fresh, green, and luxuriant grain, and the foliage, 
are inexpressibly soothing and pleasant after our Arctic 
voyage. There is such a softness and beauty over every 
thing, that we seem to be in one of our American summer 
scenes rather than in Norway. The yards are fresh with 
dear old New England flowers, lilacs, laburna, and violets, 
and roses. I have just passed, in our ramble, a grave-yard, 
beautifully set with flowers like a garden. Often one sees that 
affectionate piety in these northern countries, and what a 



A Precipice. 123 

contrast are their church-yards to our desolate, forsaken 
places for the dead in America. 

The beautiful twilight, with its soft skies, and gentle, quiet 
and uncertain light, has come again after our long day, and 
the lamp and the closed curtains are most home-like, after 
twelve or fourteen days of sunlight. 

Aalesund. — The towns on this coast are wonderfully pic- 
turesque. This is built among bare rocks which are cur- 
tained in vines, or green with fresh grass ; and as you walk 
along the streets, your path seems to terminate in the hill- 
side, or the cliffs when you find it suddenly works through 
on another group of houses among the rocks, or leads over 
to some pretty little island. 

The great business is the fishing and export of herring 
and cod. The latter is sent even to Italy and Spain. 

July . — On our voyage to-day we passed a remarkable 

headland, with a sheer precipice of 1,200 feet into the Fiord 
— Hornelen. The sailors and cragsmen have often attempted 
to scale it and reach the summit, but in vain. Several lives 
are said to have been lost in the effort, at different times. 
The tradition which perhaps impels, is that one of the old 
gigantic Yikings— Olaf Trygveson, I think, laid a wager 
that he would climb it in his armor. He started with a 
brave peasant, and after reaching a certain point in the dif- 
ficult ascent, the man dared neither go farther nor recede. 
The powerful Yiking took the poor fellow under his arm, 
reached the summit, waved his sword in the air, and brought 
the man down safely again. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE NORTHMEN. 



We have just passed an island — Vigr — in wMcli one of 
the most distinguished and heroic of the cruel pirates of the 
North had his residence — afterwards the founder of the line 
of Norman dukes in France, and the ancestor of the Eng- 
lish kings and of half of the royal families of Europe — RoUo, 
or Rolf Ganger (Ralph, the Walker), so called because his 
great size crushed any horse he would mount, and he was 
obliged in consequence to walk. This coast which we are 
passing, with its multitudinous friths, or fiords, encouraging 
a constant trial of the sea — its jutting rocks, where the 
slender soil only in favorable seasons could support the 
inhabitants — was a natural home for that daring race of 
pirates and filibusters, who scourged Europe for so many 
centuries, and who finally infused their savage vigor into its 
effeminated and superstitious people. Whatever be the 
attractions of scenery or of the existing institutions in 
Norway to the traveller, the great interest to the student 
of history for evermore, is the thought of its wonderful 
Past. Though such vague associations, with all their con- 
stant charm, are not capable of being expressed, yet they 

124 



The Old Northmen. 125 

are called unceasingly forth in this country by every familiar 
object. 

The type of the features, the color of the hair, the 
stature of the men, the form of the houses, and the mould 
of the fishing-boats ; the scanty soil and the stern cliffs ; 
the names of persons and of objects ; the titles, the laws, 
and the institutions — all, in one mode or another, remind of 
that powerful race to whom England and America owe their 
fame and their good work in the world. 

One continually asks, what it was in the rocks, the air, or 
the sea, which made such a people of conquerors. One 
wonders how it was that a country which now has hardly 
more than a million and a half of men, could a thousand 
years before have sent such destructive and conquering 
armaments against the most powerful nations of Europe.* 
Norway is fortunate in still possessing a people who are not 
degraded in the comparison of manhood with their uncon- 
querable forefathers. In Denmark, one cannot, in the char- 
acter of the people, trace the historic descent from the Dan- 
ish Northmen. Among the Norwegians, one feels that the 
same stuff is still there, and the same essential elements of 
nature. 

* " King Canute the Great sailed to England with 1,000 great 
vessels; Knut Sveinson came to Norway with 1,200 ships; Harold 
Gormson sailed from Denmark with 700 vessels ; Eymundi made an 
expedition against Norway with 600 ships ; and the Jombourg Yi- 
kings alone had 180." 

The common vessels had 30 oars and 200 men each, and could 
carry sail. — Weinhold''s Alt-Nordisches Leben. 



126 The Norse-Folk. 

To many readers, who only vaguely know that Normandy 
and England were settled and conquered by the Northmen 
a brief sketch of their expeditions may be welcome.* I 
must say here, that I use the name Northmen rather than 
Normans, because the latter has come to have a too chival- 
ric or heroic association. 

The Northmen were simply, through some eight hundred 
years. Northern pirates, of the most cruel and bloody class. 
They had various names. The principal one by which they 
were known. Vikings, is derived from Viks, or Wicks, the 
inlets from which their fleets proceeded. By the English, 
they were called Danes ; by the French, whom they continu- 
ally annoyed, pirates and Northmen ; by the Irish, whose 
island they approached usually from the east, Eastmen ; in 
the sagas, they have the common title of Norwegians, 
though they came from both branches of the North-Teu- 
tonic race, the Danes and the Norwegians. The Swedes, 
though of the same blood, do not appear to have been often 
connected with their sea-expeditions, while, on the land, 
they gained great conquests. 

The earliest invasions of which we hear, by sea, from 
Jutland and the north of Germany, were against Gaul, in 
286 A. D. Nearly at the same time, there were emigra- 
tions from a branch of the great German family, the Sax- 
ons, to England. By the year 480, Saxons had established 
colonies in Normandy, at Caen, and at the mouth of the 

* The facts in this chapter are principally drawn from Depping's 
Expeditions des Normands, Thierry, and the Heimskringla. 



The First Expeditions. 12T 

Loire, and were fast changing and becoming humanized 
under the influence of a superior civilization. 

In the middle of the fifth century, they had also been 
called into England, to aid against the Celtic tribes at the 
north, and thus at length gained a firm foothold in that 
island. The small islands neighboring, as well as Scotland, 
held out much longer than England against these invaders. 
The Anglo-Saxons were early converted to Christianity, and, 
from some peculiarity of temperament, appear to have fallen 
especially under its superstitions. Their success in England 
emboldened the Scandinavian Northmen, and these com- 
menced to make their fearful incursions against the small 
islands north and west of Scotland. In this same century, 
an alliance was formed between a Danish Northman's fam- 
ily and a Scotch royal family. The first really successful 
invasion of the terrible Northern pirates into England was 
made in 193 A. D., when they began their relentless devasta- 
tions of convents and churches, which they continued for so 
many centuries. While the Northmen were thus pressing 
the Christianized Saxons of England, another race — the 
Francs — were just about breaking the power of the same 
people in their own provinces, in Northern Germany. 
Charlemagne had opened his vigorous and cruel campaigns 
against the heathen Saxons in Northern Germany. 

This great leader, though successful against these tribes, 
could not destroy the power which he saw would soon 
threaten all civilized Europe — the piratical and fearless sea- 
rovers of Norway and Denmark. His strong hand was 
able to protect the coasts of France during his life, but 



128 TheJSTorse-Folk. 

after his death, Northmen ravaged unrestrained almost 
every coast in Europe. The people seemed everywhere 
to have become weak and superstitious. Feudalism could 
do little against the fierce democracy of the Vikings. 
With the Northern robbers, each private soldier was a 
landholder, and an independent man. Among the oppressed 
peoples of Europe, the soldier was a serf. Nor could the 
Christian faith in amulets and relics, and masses, stand 
beside the strong Faith of these Pagans in the joys of Val- 
halla, reserved for the brave, and their trust in their own 
right arms. They burned, plundered, and ravaged with- 
out mercy or hindrance. Convents were sacked, churches 
robbed, Christians carried off as slaves by the thousands. 
Astute and supple, they used wiles where they could not 
employ force. They united a boundless ambition and enter- 
prise with the most firm animal courage, and a reckless 
contempt of death. Pain, and hardships, and dangers were 
their delight. They lived in the excitement of these perils 
and exploits. The hope of booty, the lust of conquest, 
the ideals of religion and of poetry, all contributed in 
stimulating them to their incessant and daring expeditions. 
They became almost irresistible. In one century, the 
ninth, they attacked London, burnt Rouen, plundered Paris, 
and took Seville, overrunning something of France, Scot- 
land, England, Spain, and Portugal. The only decided 
check they received during this time, was from a people, 
equally with themselves fired by fanaticism, and inured 
to danger, and who had not yet learned defeat — the Moors 
of Spain. Hitherto the local causes which had originated 



The Causes. 129 

the piracies from Norway, had been the uncertainty of 
the harvests and the superabundance of the population, 
almost compelling the young men to seek their fortunes 
abroad. 

To these was added now a political cause. Harold 
Haarfager, the first king, who sought to make a united 
State of the numerous petty kingdoms of Norway, and 
who first attempted to put down piracy, had fought in 
885, one of the great battles of Norwegian history in the 
Hardanger Fjord. His opponents, the petty chieftains of 
Norway, assisted by the King of Sweden, were utterly de- 
feated and scattered abroad, and the Royal Power was 
henceforth established. The refugees, many of them the 
bravest warriors and sea-kings of Norway, fled to distant 
islands, and formed new bands of pirates and freebooters. 

Some took refuge in Iceland, and founded a democratic 
Republic, where literature and law flourished, as they did 
nowhere else in Northern Europe, in that degenerate age. 
Among the countries that suffered most from these de- 
feated Yikings, were England, Ireland, and Scotland, and 
the small islands which lie adjacent. 

The power of the Norwegian King, however, reached 
them here. In the Shetlands and Orkneys he extirpated 
utterly their bands, and gave the Orkneys as a fief to 
Rognvald, the father of Rollo and the great line of Nor- 
man kings. 

Rollo is the first of the Vikings who turned his successes 
to solid use, and who can, therefore, really claim a position 
in history. His life, too varied and filled with incidents 



130 The Norse-Folk. 

to be told liere, was most characteristic of the times. 
Banished by his old friend and chief, Harald Haarfager, 
from Norway, for acts of lawless violence, he spent years 
in piracy and bloody adventure, until he obtained a foot- 
hold in the beginning of the 10th century in Neustria, or 
as it was afterwards called, !N"ormandy. There, at Eouen, 
the old freebooter and pirate married a Franc woman, 
and became nominally Christianized, established a govern- 
ment which became known as the most settled and strong 
government in France, and whose only traces, transmitted 
to posterity, are the most severe laws against rapine and 
crime. While he was founding the line of English kings 
in Normandy, his brother Rholland went to Iceland, and 
established a family, who are said to be still known as 
intelligent and industrious farmers in that little island. 

The Northmen now held possession of Neustria or Nor- 
mandy for several centuries, as a ruling and distinct peo- 
ple, gradually becoming humanized, and feeling the soften- 
ing influences of Christian civilization. 

' With the efforts in Norway and Denmark to extinguish 
piracy, and the success of the Northmen in France, the 
Viking expeditions were coming to a close. 

In the middle of the tenth century, one of the last bands 
of these pirates was formed — the Jombourg-Yikings ; and in 
1015, the last eminent Viking leader, Olaf Haraldson, ap- 
peared, and ran through with his bloody course. The expe- 
dition in the eleventh century of the Guiscards, the descend- 
ants of the Northmen, which conquered Southern Italy, had 
more the character of a conquest than a piracy. In the 



Northmen in Fkanoe. 131 

* 
Scotch isles, the Northern pirates still had their haunts till 

the thirteenth century, and in the Orkneys, Norse was 

spoken till the sixteenth century. 

At the close of the tenth century and near the beginning 
of the eleventh, were those peaceful expeditions of the 
Northmen which resulted in the discovery of America, but 
which produced so little fruit, that both they and the exten- 
sive colonizing of Greenland, from which they rose, had be- 
come one of the fables and sagas of the people, and till a 
late century, utterly lost to history. 

One of the most surprising things to the student, with re- 
gard to the settlement made in France by the Norwegian 
and Danish Yikings, is the little trace left afterwards of their 
occupation. Though holding an important French province 
for several centuries, tney left behind them no language, no 
literature, no mythology or architecture. Beyond almost 
any other people of Europe, the Northmen had a technical 
and elaborate system of law. Only one or two traces of this 
appear in French institutions. So completely amalgamated 
and mingled with the French population had the Vikings 
become, that within a few centuries, not even their origin 
was known by their descendants in Normandy. Even the 
Runes, which follow their course in other countries, are not 
found here. A few names of places and towns, a few words 
in the popular language, and occasional features in the pea- 
santry, are the only direct traces which they have leffin Nor- 
mandy. The only substantial popular benefit which history 
records, as the fruit of the Northman conquest in France, are 
the vigorous life inspired into a superstitious peasantry, and 
the establishment of the French fisheries and marine. 



132 TheJSToese-Folk. 

In England, on the other hand, with a race more kindred 
in blood, thej seem to have united more naturally — the two 
races filling out in some degree each other's deficiencies and 
wants. The Northmen had already gained foothold in many 
provinces of England, before the invasion of 1066, under 
William the Conqueror. The English Saxons, even as the 
other Christian peoples on the Continent, had felt the de- 
pressing and unmanning influence of monkish superstitions. 
They had become a weak, almost effete race. Industrious 
on the soil, patient with mechanical labor, they had no taste 
for sea-faring, life, or the dangers and toils of warfare. They 
fell an easy prey to the vigorous, relentless, hardy Northmen. 
Henceforth England had stamped on her national character 
the traits of the Norwegian sea-kings ; and the Ameri- 
can progeny yet bears them even more distinctly. The 
boundless spirit of individual enterprise — the love of the 
perils of the sea (which the Saxons never showed) — the 
recklessness of life — the shrewdness and skill in technical 
law — the fondness for wassail and wine — the respect for wo- 
man, and above all, the tendency to associated self-govern- 
ment. 

In Britain, everywhere have the Danish and Norwegian 
Northmen left enduring traces — in the most familiar words 
of the language ; in the names of towns and villages, of hills, 
and bays, and rivers ; in customs, and games, and popular 
superstitions; in laws and institutions.* 

History, in recording the vices, and cruelty, and lawlessness 

* Even the trial by jury may fairly derive itself from the sijnilar 
institution in Norway. 



Theie Influence. 133 

of the Northmen, will admit that they were a natural pro- 
duct of the time ; and that only such vigorous and unspar- 
ing hands could have cut o& the superstitions and corrected 
the unmanly wickedness into which Europe had fallen. 
They had that which must be the basis of character in ISTa- 
tions, as in individuals — ^physical, animal vigor. On that, 
Christianity and civilization have built up what of good is at 
this day to be seen in England and America. 



CHAPTER XL 



BERGEN. 



This is a much more picturesque town than is commonly 
represented, built on different hill-sides of a bay, with many 
heights and varied surfaces, and broken in upon in part by an 
island. We found here some very cultivated and interesting 
people, and enjoyed our short stay. The inns are wretched, 
beyond description. Everything was in ferment, in view of 
the visit of three Princes — the Crown Prince, who is mak- 
ing a summer tour in the beautiful scenery of this Province ; 
Prince Napoleon, who is en route for the North Cape, and 
some Italian Prince. Whateverwe wanted to see — Church, 
Museum, Library, or boarding-house, was being prepared 
for the prince ! Posts were being painted, walks cleared, 
streets cleaned in a manner most unusual for this steady and 
dirty city. Bergen is the great commercial city of Norway. 

It is perhaps, also, the most conspicuous town in Norway 
for its institutions of charity. With a population of 28,000, 
it appropriates about $30,000 per annum to the poor and 
sick, besides the m3aiis for public institutions. These are, the 
Old Sailors' Aoylaui, 100—120 inmates ; the Widows', with 

134 



Institutions. 135 

31 ; the old Wardens/ with 30; the old Citizens', 60; Leprous 
Hospitals — 500-600 ; Hospital, 120 ; Insane Asylum, 60. 

The mode of disposing of the vagrant and criminal chil- 
dren is similar to that adopted by private organizations in 
America — the sending them to individual homes in the 
country, where responsible parties are bound to support and 
educate them. There seems to be a very regular and exact 
visiting of the poor by public Inspectors, who are bound to 
serve without pay, for four years. These report if children 
do not attend school, or are vagrant, or falling into criminal 
habits ; they also dispense assistance, and give permits for 
the different Asylums and Institutions. 

Of its Institutions of education, beside the Real schools, 
and the Drawing Schools for workmen, there are sixteen Peo- 
ple's Schools in Bergen, with l,t00 scholars, supported at 
an expense of $6,000. The boys are taught in the morning, 
and the girls in the afternoon. Each school is only held 
three hours a day. Salary of upper teacher, $200 : of 
under teacher, $100 per annum. 

No stranger should leave this city without visiting the 
old '' German Church." The curious gilt carving ; the 
mingling of pictures of Catholic saints and Lutheran divines ; 
the odd representations of Scripture scenes in German cos- 
tume, make a most droll and quaint picture for the memory. 
We spent a long time examining its curious details. 

LEPROUS HOSPITALS. 

July . — My friend Dr. , took me to-day to vari- 
ous Institutions of Bergen, and among others, to his Leprous 



136 The ISTokse-Folk. 

Hospitals. It was a hideous sight— rthe first I had ever had 
of that singular disease, except in the cases we had seen 
occasionally in the streets of Bergen. We passed by each 
patient, the Doctor sometimes taking the hand, or looking 
more minutely at him. Some of them showed faces drawn 
down and distorted, with broad deep marks, as of a burn ; 
others had huge scaly patches crumbling off from their fea- 
tures ; others, red rings and white spots around their eyes, 
and the eye itself, evidently half-bleared ; some were lame, 
some blind ; some bore the white scales on the arms and 
hands and every part of the face ; others were bleeding 
from the red broken seams of the sores. They seemed gene- 
rally quiet, as if not suffering intensely, but hideous and 
disgusting beyond description. One breathed more freely 
again when in the open air. 

Dr. says, that the difficulty with the peasants is, 

that they will not confess their disease until it has gone too 
far for remedy. It frequently follows the law of Syphilis, 
and passes over one generation, attacking the third. He 
attributes it mainly to the excessive eating of salt fish, and 
to the filthiness of the peasantry. There are two Hospitals 
in the city — one for incurable cases, containing one hundred 
and thirty patients ; the other, a new building, for the usual 
cases, having three hundred to four hundred patients. So 
far as I know, it is the only Hospital for leprosy in Europe, 
except, possibly, one in Italy. 

Bergen sustained its character, as one of the wettest 
places in the world, while I was there. The days were 
very much like summer days in Liverpool — sun-shine, clouds, 



Temperature. 13T 

showers or fog, continually succeeding each other. The 
difference of climate between this place and Christiania, 
is striking, as showing the effect of a seaboard position, 
compared with a continental. With Bergen, the flow of 
the Gulf-stream, the warm return trade-winds from the 
Atlantic, and the peculiar amphitheatre of hills, at once 
sheltering and condensing the vapors, produce an average 
temperature of 46°. 48 (Fahr.), while at Christiania it is 
only 41°. 5, and a fall of rain and snow of 13 inches, while 
at Christiania it is 21.2 inches, and at Upsala, in the same 
latitude, only about 41.5 inches.* 

The winters at Christiania have a mean temperature 13° 
lower* than at Bergen. 

This latter is not considered a healthy or agreeable place 
in Norway. 

A stranger is always impressed with the German char- 
acter of the town, the old Hanseatic ware-houses, the faces 
of the common people, and the language. 

It is the first Norwegian town I have found where Ger- 
man was more spoken than English. Whether it be in 
the climate, or the dirty habits, or the food — consisting so 
much of fish and oil — it is certain that nowhere do you 
see among peasants and poor people, so many distorted 
sickly faces and diseased bodies. I watched for an hour 
on a market-day the current of peasants pour in. It was 
rare to see a tall, strong, well-made man, unflecked with 
sickness, and without some kind of deformity. This is not 

* Forbes. 



138 The ISToese-Folk. 

at all the common observation in Norway. Here Syphilis 
and Leprosy, the fearful scourges for the two great sins of 
the Norwegian peasantry — licentiousness and filth — have 
left indelible scars. 



CHAPTER XII. 

POSTING TO CHRISTIANIA. 

We are again off in our little carrioles which we had 
left in Troudlijem during our Arctic excursion, and then 
brought on to Bergen as freight. (Item. The freight for 
a carriole is the same as for a lady in JSTorway, i. e., half the 
full fare. Also, let travellers be warned not to leave their 
harnesses behind them, from too much confidence in hotel 
servants, as we did in the Hotel de belle Vue, Trondhjem !) 
The scenery on the post road beyond Bergen is very much 
like the scenery in a New England valley — the Housatonic, 
for instance — dark hill-sides, reaches of streams in the valleys, 
woods and sudden perspectives up a long opening in the hills. 

Houge. — Small station with stone and grass roofs among 
the bare hills ; peasants making hay on the intervale ; the 
rows of drying-frames looking like battalions. 

No Norwegian summer scene is true without these little 
frames for drying hay. The object is to dry rapidly, for 
fear of rain in the changeable summer-climate. They often 
seemed like little ranks of soldiers. 

Garnoes. — Stop for breakfast— nothing but dry oat-cake 
in the house : we make our own tea : no bed-room or any 
other accommodation, if one were detained there. 

189 



140 Thk^Norse-Folk. 

Our carrioles are taken apart and put into a, large eight- 
oared boat, and we are pulled up a beautiful lake. 

It is a six hours' pull for four men. The views at the 
other end are grand ; immense hills rising abruptly for 
thousands of feet. I never was so impressed at once with 
the poverty and the industry of the Norwegians. In a 
number of places we saw men, so high above us that 
they seemed mere specks, making hay on little ledges of 
the mountains, which could not be thirty feet broad, and 
rolling the bundles down to boats at the foot, where the 
only access was by water and where a false step would 
have cast them down a thousand feet. Others were gather- 
ing in the same perilous way the green brush-wood for 
the cattle. Every place that could be labored, even a 
small bit of grass by the shore, showed its hay-frames or 
laborers. 

It is a poor, hard country ; that is the strong impression 
left by a Norwegian journey. One does not wonder that 
the people leave it, and yet it is such soils that grow men. 
It has begotten the Northmen — and all that has sprung 
from them. 

Dale. — We landed here. No house or hut in sight ; but 
a few skillings set one of the men running to the post- 
station, a mile or two distant. I settled the boat-account 
exactly according to our book of prices ; gave the gratuity: 
no objections were made, or questions asked. They put 
the carrioles nicely together, and after a little waiting, we 
were driving off again. When one reflects how completely 
he is in the hands of these boatmen and postmen, in such 



EockStudies. 141 

solitary places, he is ready to give full thanks to J!*»I'orwegiaii 
laws and Norwegian honesty, which make mountain-travel 
so easy. 

The drive to Dalseidet was grand — right under mighty 
precipices. We had the fastest little horses, and I, a post- 
girl to drive, if I wished. They brought us wonderfully 
quick to another lake, with the most impressive and grand 
aspects we have yet seen. Here, as usual, most provoking 
waiting for the people, before the carrioles could be taken 
apart and put into boats. At length we were started. 
Every fresh scene now makes us say, '' This is the finest 
yet !" On the Dovre Fjeld, despite the most agreeable nov- 
elty, there was a slight, almost unconscious feeling of disap- 
pointment. Here there is none. One is overwhelmed — 
crowded with the scenes of power and beauty. I never 
felt Swiss scenery so deeply. Yet, in enjoyment of Nature, 
how much depends on your mood, on your company, on the 
weather, and the nameless power of shadow and light ! 

This was an evening never to be forgotten by those who 
enjoyed it. The magnificent sun-set ; the solemn, massive 
hills overhanging and the fissures in deep shadow ; the still 
waters ; the gloom and the glory which lit it up — all are on 
the memory, but cannot be put on paper. In several places 
I saw a beautiful phenomenon. The rocks on this lake, or 
rather fiord, are strangely stratified and contorted — ^how, I 
was not near enough to determine. At a distance, the 
effect is as of the most gigantic strokes on the mountain- 
side by a great artist, as if, in deep feeling of beauty, he 
had drawn curved lines of shadow or different lights over 



142 The Noese-Folk. 

the bare rock. It is only when you are near, that you see 
that this to7ie is given by the material, and not by coloring 
or shadow. Would that some artist or photographer could 
preserve these gigantic rock-studies I 

Bolstadbren. — Beautifully situated at the end of a lake. 
This is a favorite spot for English sportsmen. The English 
have fairly occupied Norway for sporting. Almost any 
stream of any value for salmon-fishing is hired by them^ 
Some have even bought properties, for the sake of the fish- 
ing — a profitable thing for the country-people, as, of course, 
the sportsmen do not want the fish, and bring in besides 
many gains to the peasants. 

We had here a delicious supper of salmon and coffee. 
However poor a Norwegian inn is, one may nearly always 
be sure of fish and eggs, and good coffee. 

We had again another water-journey in little boats ; and, 
as the wheels would not come off from one of the carrioles, 
it was put into the stern bodily, with the wheels over the 
side in the water, which created great amusement among 
the peasants, and brought after us the shout of Damphaad 
(Steamboat !) 

It was full night when we reached Evanger, but we were 
determined to post all night, in order to be at our station 
fixed upon for sleep. We set off under the moon, in most 
uncertain and romantic light. Between twelve and one, 
there began to be a glimmer of day ; and at two, when, 
thoroughly tired and sleepy, we reached Yossewangen, it 
was almost broad day-light. The people were easily roused 
up, and accommodations found. 



,^ 




/ 



A Sunday. 143 

Sunday. — Fossewangen is in one of the most retired val- 
leys of Norway. It is built on the edge of a little lake, and 
steeply-sloping hills, covered with green fields, and rich ver- 
dure of trees come right down to it on either side. On the 
west, the lake opens out in a wide reach of sparkling water. 
The little brown clusters of houses — which make the gaarde 
or farms — are sprinkled over the beautiful hill-sides. There 
are some thirty or forty houses in the village, clustering about 
an old whitewashed church with black spire, of an indescriba- 
ble shape, but evidently intended once to be a cone. There 
are no fences about the houses, and everything seems open. 
It is an exquisitely beautiful summer day, and the whole vil- 
lage and church and scene have left on me such an impression 
of peace and beauty, as scarcely any ever has done. Early in 
the day, the Bonders of the neighborhood, the famed men 
of Yoss, and their families, began to pour in for the Sun- 
day's service. I watched them from the hill. Little ponies 
brought some from the hUls, even from near where the snow 
now lies ; others came in small carts, in the independent lit- 
tle sulkies or carrioles, or on foot. Then again, a party in a 
boat crossed the lake, picturesque in red, and white, and blue 
colors. The village was soon filled with sturdy-looking men 
in blue caps, jackets and breeches, and with women in most 
singular costume. I went early to the church. Before the 
preaching service, the communion is partaken of, and I 
found some hundred women and men gathered about the 
altar. There was on almost every face a vepy earnest and 
devout expression ; and though our costume must have been 
even more singular to them than theirs to us, scarce any 



14:4: The Nokse-Folk. 

woman turned her head as we entered. The clergyman, 
dressed in black cassock with a stiff white ruff, such as ap- 
pears in the portrait of Martin Luther, or any priest of his 
time, with his back to the audience, was repeating or chant- 
ing a passage of Scripture. He then turned, and made a 
short address, which was very intently listened to ; and then, 
as the communicants kneeled at the altar, he placed his 
hands on theu" heads and repeated, as he passed from one to 
another, " Let thy sins be forgiven thee in the name of God 
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit !" This 
is the Lutheran absolution. 

Of all the quaint things about this village, the church is 
the quaintest. To describe its interior would be impossible 
— so broken up by odd unaccountable galleries, and columns 
and recesses. It is one of the first Christian churches, built 
sometime in the beginning of 1200. The walls are of stone, 
and the wood-work usually unpainted, with curious imitation 
of gilding upon it. 

The prominent object in entering is an ugly wooden statue 
of Christ crucified, placed over the entrance to the chancel, 
with two httle wooden boys holding a real hammer and 
whip, and other instruments in their hands, intended to rep- 
resent the Jews and their instruments of torture. The flat, 
unpainted board-ceiling is decorated with most singular 
cherubic heads ; and in one corner is a picture of some 
Bible-scene, in which Jerusalem bore a strong resemblance 
to Bergen. The chancel was filled with old rude paintings. 

At half-past eleven, the other service began. The crowd 
of women who had been sitting on the grass outside, began 



Church Costume. 145 

to enter and take their places — the young girls on little 
raised forms, in the aisles, of the height of a footstool, and 
the older women in the high-backed wooden seats. Each, 
as she entered her seat, kneeled to pray, and then shook 
hands with all near her, even the strangers. It struck me 
as a bej!?sutiful token of their simple faith, and of this, the festi- 
ival of their religion — worshp first, and then social feeling. 

The body of the church was speedily crowded with gaily- 
dressed women, and I certainly never saw a prettier and 
more healthy collection of women's faces. All ruddy, 
round, with genuine good expressions, and some with the 
most finely-cut features. What might be called the Nor- 
man type was the prominent — slightly aquiline nose, well- 
cut nostril, clear blue eye and light hair, the forehead 
generally not high, but well formed. There were some 
very common faces, but richly sun-browned and healthy. 
As I stood by one of the curiously twisted columns of 
a gallery, and looked through the entrance into the space 
before the altar, it seemed for a moment like some scene 
on the stage — the clergyman behind, in his long black 
gown and stiff ruff, and before him, continually passing, 
without our seeing where they went or whence they came, a 
succession of the most picturesque figures — first, an old 
woman, in a white triangular head-tire, reaching a foot each 
side, with blue dress ; then one in black, with red bodice, 
and white scarf ; then a maiden, with her own hair in two 
plaits, tied around her head, and a red band over, and in 
velvet and embroidered bodice, with red back ; and so on, 
in the most singular variety. 

1 



146 The ITorse-Folk. 

The galleries were filled with men, and many could find 
no place. The audience throughout was exceedingly atten- 
tive, and solemnly interested ; and the whole gave one a 
most cheering impression of at least the religious feeling of 
the country. 

The exercises began by the clergyman^s intoning a pas- 
sage of Scripture, and uttering a short exhortation, after 
which he made the sign of the cross over the audience. 
Then a hymn was given out, the number of which had been 
already placed in large metallic letters on the walls ; the 
singing was entirely congregational, and of the most screechy 
order, contiuning through some thirty verses. After this, 
the clergyman ascended the pulpit, and uttered a fervent 
prayer, apparently extempore, which was devoutly listened 
to ; then a collect, the sermon, prayer and singing, and the 
people dispersed through the village — some to eat their 
meals on the grass ; others to visit their friends, and the 
most to join little groups, where they were discussing the 
public events of the time, or arranging bargains for the 
week. 

By a singular chance, there were two other persons from 
America in our inn — two Norwegians, who had been some 
fifteen or sixteen years in our Western country, had made 
their fortunes, and were returned, partly for a visit, and per- 
haps partly for a speculation — to bring a profitable immi- 
gration to their own " claims," or town-lots. They were 
said to have left the village poor boys, and now they came 
back as grandees. Through all Sunday, there was a levee 
of their friends in their room, smoking, drinking coffee, and 



American IN'oeweghans. 14Y 

occasionally taking a bottle of wine. The contrast between 
the Americanized Norwegians and their countrymen was in- 
structive. These two were complete "Westerners of the mid- 
dle class — " hail-fellow " with every one, sharp, alert, self- 
asserting, almost nervous in busy activity, with swarthy 
faces, blue coats and gorgeous velvet waistcoats, and very 
expensive dress and outfit — using the worst American drawl, 
and smoking and chewing incessantly. Their friends and 
companions from whom they came were stately, moderate 
people, dressed in national jackets and breeches, or coats 
trailing to the feet, with blonde faces, and long light hair 
parted in the middle. The women in red bodices, and with 
brilliant head-tire. They moved, one after another, with 
slow, dignified pace to the inn, and in the rooms, they seemed 
like judges or princes, before these restless poppinjays of 
men. Their faces had an austere impenetrable cast, as they 
watched the vulgar activity, or listened to the loud stories 
about the American Eden. There was a wonderful revelation 
in the contrasts. Only once the national reserve broke 
down, and their pride in their successful countrymen burst 
forth — when they heard the Norwegians talking English 
with us they laughed in exultation, and crowded near. I 
found my two countrymen very good fellows. They said 
their journey was costing them frightfully, as every one 
imagined an ximerican must have his pockets lined with gold, 
and they objected to no bills. We had often encountered 
the same impression about ourselves, and had pretty effectu- 
ally corrected it for future American travellers. 

They found Norway horribly dull — every thing so much 



148 The Norse-Folk. 

behindhand — ^farming j&fty years behind the age. They 
were home-sick already. Yet this valley, they thought one 
of the finest districts in the whole country : wheat ripened 
here very early, just below the snow, and all the other 
grains : the orchards were good : farms were worth fsom 
$2,000 to $5,000 ; but the people were slow. They would 
not attempt any improvements. 

Then they could not stand this dress of the women — 
waists way up under the arm, and short petticoats ! They 
had been to Church that morning, for the sake of old times, 
but this absolution by the priest was too much for them I 
'/ It is behind the age, sir !" 

I said I liked the services, and the earnest, devout appear- 
ance of the people. 

*' Oh yes : but that humbug of a minister ! He won't 
come near us, because he thinks we are carrying off his 
people to America ! Old JSTorway don't do beside the West, 
Sir ! — Take a cigar ? — We'd show 'em a thing or too if 
they'd come oute to Wisconsing I Grit back to Elecksion, 
sir?" 

" Yes. How do you vote ?" 

" For Fkemont — to be sure sir 1" 

We afterwards visited the clergyman to whom we had 
previously sent our letters. He was just hurrying off by 
post (on Sunday afternoon), for Bergen, so that we did not 
even see him. The parsonage was a roomy, comfortable 
house — and we spent an hour with the family. 

Norway has had a great reputation for hospitality, but it 



Hospitality. 149 

deserves it now no more than France or America, or any 
country with hotels and steamboats. There is too much 
travel for people to be able to entertain strangers ; and 
they have become so used to them, that a foreigner is of 
little more interest to a Norwegian, than to a New Yorker 
or Londoner. Sweden, in my experience, far surpasses Nor- 
way in genuine hospitality. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



EXCURSION TO VORING FOSS. 



The most famous water-fall in Norway lies in the neigh- 
borhood of this village, and we had determined to visit 
it. We left our nice inn accordingly in our carrioles, at 
an early hour, encumbering ourselves with no luggage, for 
Graven. The way was a by-road, yet here, as in the main 
routes, I was surprised how well the road-building was 
done. It is a marked instance of the success of individual 
effort under governmental oversight. Each landholder's 
property is designated by little stakes, and that portion 
of the public way he is obliged to keep. We have no 
roads in America equal to the Norwegian. The farms 
which we passed on this route were uncommonly good, 
the best I have yet seen, especially those around the little 
lake by Graven. 

The scenery was interesting ; in some places, really impos- 
ing. Among the reminders which we constantly have that we 
are among our forefathers, was the use on the farms of 
the long well-pole, with a weight at the end — a quaint 
contrivance which, though common in New England, has 
almost gone out of date in Great Britain. The post-boy, 

150 



L AK E- JOU KNE Y S. 151 

too, spoke in Norwegian of " baiting {bede) " Ms horses 
at the inn, and of "plying (phi) " between certain points 
— good old English words. At Graven, instead of row- 
ing across the lake, and then taking a horse over the 
mountain to a station, where were boats, we were per- 
suaded to boat the whole way to Yik. Our carrioles were 
left in charge of the station-master. We were pulled 
up the little lake, passing again large farms with people 
busy on the hay fields. In one spot we noticed a remark- 
able bauta-stone, or solitary burial-stone of the old North- 
men. These monuments, passed occasionally in all parts 
of Norway, give a peculiar association to the lonely lakes 
and hills. At the end of the lake, our boatman took our 
wallets and shawls on his shoulder, and led us on for a 
full mile to a boat-station — Eide — on the Hardanger Fjord. 
The day was warm and beautiful, and the sight of the 
neat little inn, with the rich wooded heights and orchards, 
was most refreshing after our long Northern experience 
of barren rocks and Arctic vegetation. Our boatman here 
gave us almost the only instance of an illegal charge (as 
we discovered afterwards), which we met with in Norway, 
still it was only a few shillings' difference, and the charge 
seemed cheap enough. 

We took our breakfast, procured two very athletic-look- 
ing boatmen, and a good boat ; these filled the bottom 
with branches and piled our cloaks and vshawls on, and 
we were soon having the most delicious gondola-like voyage 
through grand mountain scenery I ever imagined. 



152 The E"orse-Folk. 

The weather was splendid ; the Fjord sparkled under 
cheery sun-shine, and the wooded hills were sprinkled with 
those rich dark shadows which one sees in our American 
summer-scenery. 

Such journeys are the very acme of luxurious pleasant 
travelling. You have the wildness of savage Nature with 
something of the conveniences of civilization, and the satis- 
faction of seeing new and characteristic features of a coun- 
try, while you are getting an invigorating and healthful 
exercise. It might seem rather trying for our American 
women to venture on such a trip as this has thus far been, 
but it is wonderful how the body recovers tone from this 
clear mountain air, and continued movement. 

The Hardanger is certainly the most beautiful Fjord I 
have yet seen. The perspectives at some points were ex- 
quisite. At one opening, the Folgefond glaciers appeared 
shining coldly among the green hills. The general charac- 
ter of the scenery is like that on our Maine lakes, only 
the mountains here are far bolder ; wooded points, leafy 
islets, narrow openings between green hills, long reaches 
up sparkling bays with snowy mountains for back-ground, 
are the features of the pictures. 

We reached Vik in the afternoon. Here is one of those 
desperately poor inns, of which all travellers should be 
forewarned — dirty, with no food, not even milk for cofiPee, 
and a pack of the most rowdy and drunken fellows hanging 
about. It was the first instance I had had of the Nor- 
wegian intemperance, of which so much is related. 



AModelInn. 153 

The landlady and her family were in singular contrast 
with their surroundings, and seemed very decent, respect- 
able people. Some of her children were in America. 

We met here two agreeable German travellers, who were 
walking, or posting by chance vehicles over the mountains. 

The book at the inn was filled with bitter complaints 
in all European languages, at the fare and lodgings. 

This point is one of the favorite resorts of the English 
yachts, which explore the Norwegian coast. We saw a 
number of titled names on the post-book. 

From this station we walked a half-mile to a little moun- 
tain-lake, and there took boat for Soebo, the nearest station 
to the water-fall. It was dusk when we reached the little 
inn. The people had evidently never had strange travellers, 
especially ladies there before, and were a good deal con- 
fused. There was no sitting-room, but we were lighted to a 
little separate log-cabin, where was an attic-room, reserved 
for the furs, linen, etc., of the family. This produced a 
rather droll consternation with the lady ; but as we had 
made up our minds to " rough it," for the sake of the trip 
next day, there was no grumbling, except when an unfortu- 
nate beam crushed out the only bonnet. They did all they 
could for us, but the appointments were unique. The man 
brought up water in a little milk-bowl, and a piece of linen 
for a towel, while the woman got out her best damask table- 
cloths for sheets, and the curious colored and worked cloths 
which one sees in all the cottages, for coverlids. Dried oat- 
cake and milk were set out for supper. They told us that 
generally the strangers stopped at Vik for the night, and 

1* 



154: TheNokse-Folk. 

therefore they were not prepared. But we wanted to begin 
fresh on the next morning for the mountain-dimb, and had 
thug done in one day what the guide-books give at least two 
days for. As a last attention, the peasant brought us a 
whisky-bottle, and a little lump of rock-candy, locking the 
door of the house as he went out. 

Next morning, coffee and flat-bread (dry rye-cakes), and 
goat's-cheese were brought us, but no milk or cream, as the 
cows were all away on the saetter. 

A nice little Norwegian pony had been already engaged 
for my wife, and myself being on foot, with a guide, we 
started. The pony's equipment was original — a saddle- 
cloth surmounted by a side-frame of wood, and a wooden 
stirrup for both feet. The morning was very fresh and 
beautiful ; and our path for a long distance wound in an 
easy way along a dashing torrent, crossing it, at length, on 
a dangerous-looking bridge. After this point, the road was 
by no means so easy, frequently creeping just on the edge 
of a fearful chasm, or clambering over smooth, steep rocks, 
where a stumble of the little animal would have had disa- 
greeable consequences. Here the guide led, and the pony 
never failed. At length the path crossed a little mountain- 
farm, and passed over a well-constructed bridge, recently refit- 
ted for the visit of the crown-prince, who had just been here. 

The hills rose abruptly to a great height on every side of 
us, and the only escape seemed the chasm through which the 
torrent broke. We were at a loss to see how the Great Fall 
was to be reached. Suddenly the path turned, and we saw 
that it wound by zig-zags directly up the steep hill in front. 



The Mountain Climb. 155 

The girths were tightened, the guide took the bridle, and we 
set ourselves to the steepest climb I ever saw a horse make. 
It was slow, hard work ; and when at length, on a sudden 
bend, the girth broke and the lady disappeared down the 
slope, we concluded it was time to try the feet. Luckily, a 
little grass plat among the rocks saved her any bad conse- 
quences, and the pony proved perfectly immovable. The 
guide too, for our comfort, pointed us out a rock, which he 
called the " leg-breaking rock," where an unfortunate travel- 
ler had fallen from his horse and broken both his legs. At 
length, after a long pull, we reached the summit — 2,500 feet 
in height — giving us a grand view down the great chasm, as 
it now appeared. The path now led along a plateau of wet, 
springy ground, for a mile or more, until we began to see a 
little cloud of ascending spray, which showed the neighbor- 
hood of the cataract. After passing a little beyond it, we 
stopped at a solitary cottage, with out-houses and cattle — 
generally white cows — around it — the sater-cahin or cot- 
tage for the mountain pasture. Taking a few moments' rest 
and a taste of the delicious milk, we started for the water- 
fall. We were almost upon it before seeing anything of it, 
except the hurrying torrent above, though the distant roar 
was long audible. The guide brought us suddenly to a pro- 
jecting point ; we lay down and looked below into the tre- 
mendous chasm. The water comes silent, swift, with hardly 
a foam, to the ledge, and then makes its quick leap of 850 
feet into the abyss below — but though a stream of fifty feet 
m breadth when it starts, it seems never to reach the bot- 
tom ; first it is foam, then spray, then beautiful descending 
wreaths of silvery mist, whose intertwining and changing 



166 The ]S"oese-Folk. 

shapes, quick appearing and vanishing in a thousand fan- 
tastic figures, one can watch by the hour, and fancy all man- 
ner of witching Norse Nbke, and water- sprites. The gran- 
deur is more given by the great depth and the worn walls of 
mighty rock below than by the Fall itself. " Yet even the 
depth you do not appreciate till you throw a stone into the 
chasm, and count by your watch its time of descent. The 
guide was in great terror of our falling in, but at length we 
got rid of him, and placed ourselves in good positions to 
silently enjoy awhile. The impression — as at Magara — is 
first of fear- — but soon becomes one more of absorption in 
the beauty of the scene. One of the most wonderful fea- 
tures in it were the colorings of the rock-walls — caused by 
the very quality of the stone — varying from the most deli- 
cate peach to the darkest brown. As I lay on a little ledge 
of rock, a ray of the morning sun found entrance into the 
cavity, lighting up beautifully the dark, seething caldron 
below, and throwing an exquisite little rainbow over the 
angry boiling of waters. The effect was wonderful. One 
can understand, in such places, the Norsk superstitions of 
the Noke — the water-sprites, who fascinate and tempt in 
the beholder. The continuous rush of the waters, the 
roar below, the dancing, fantastic mist-wreaths put you 
into a dream, so that you can hardly force yourself to 
rise. You get a sense of the continuousness of Nature, and 
you understand that strange influence which so many idola- 
tries have recognized, of absorption in the great displays of 
natural power, as if one would gladly be swallowed up in 
and become part of such grandeur and loveliness. 

With the Yoring Foss, the effect is very much improved 



The Falls. 167 

by seeing the fall from above. A few persons have been 
at its base ; there the scene must be one of the grandest 
in the world. Its height is variously reckoned from eight 
hundred and fifty to one thousand feet. 

At the cottage, we found a book with the names of 
visitors. I had thought that our party would have the 
first ladies' names — but I found that an English nobleman's 
family, ladies and all, had made the chmb during this 
season. 

'No American's name was in the book. After some re- 
freshment, which we had brought with us, we started for 
the descent under a hot summer's sun, and blessed our 
prudence in having made the ascent at so early an hour. 
The little station was reached, and finally Vik ; a dinner 
of salmon was ready for us, and at five o'clock we were off 
again for a twenty miles' row in the night with the same 
vigorous boatmen who had brought us. The wind was 
high and against us, so that it was two o'clock in the morn- 
ing before we reached the neat little station at Eide. 

The next morning we continued the return-journey, but 
from ordering horses at too late an hour at Graven, we 
were compelled to wait two hours, and did not reach Yosse- 
wangen till three o'clock of the third day of our excursion. 
In general, the trip would take four or five days from this 
village. 

The Falls are considered a great curiosity by travellers, 
and therefore I have described our route somewhat mi- 
nutely ; still it is doubtful whether, with all the time and 
labor required, the excursion will repay most parties. The 



158 



The Nokse-Folk. 



rows on the Lakes and Fjords were the best part of it. 
For the most impressive scenery, I do not believe the travel- 
ler in Norway need leave much the beaten path. The best 
scenes in Nature are always those which you do not expect, 
and which come on you incidentally, while you are doing 
something else than hunt for them. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

TOWARDS GUDVANGEN AND THE FILE FIELD. 

We wished to reach Gudvangen that night, if possible, 
and we posted on at the fastest speed we could command. 
The little ponies trotted like racers ; the country was a 
succession of green, peaceful landscapes, with pretty lakes 
and rolling hills while a soft evening sunlight filled the 
valleys. As a sensation, I have had few pleasures like 
"these from our Norwegian drives. As we had not ordered 
horses, we were everywhere delayed at the stations, though 
paying the most liberal drink-moneys. One enjoyment in 
waiting was picking the delicious wild strawberries. The 
people seemed greatly interested in us, as Americans, and 
asked every sort of questions. There has been a large 
emigration from all these valleys to our West. 

At first in our journeys, we were much interested by 
the fact, that all our postmen and the small farmers whom 
we met, were " going to America next Spring," but we 
at length discovered, that " going to America" in Norway, 
was like " going to be good," or any other good resolution 
in other countries — always belonging to the next year. 

159 



160 The JSToese-Folk. 

It was nine o'clock before we reached the last station, 
Stalheim, about seven miles from our stopping-place. We 
waited till half-past ten for the horses, walking on a little 
way and letting the post-boys overtake us. It was twilight 
still, and the view before us was one of the most extraor- 
dinary I ever beheld. We were on a mountain-plateau, 
in a desolate, barren country ; a little distance beyond the 
road seemed to plunge down a precipice. There was no- 
thing visible but a dark, yawning chasm, of unknown depth; 
no gradual descent, or any objects at the bottom were visi- 
ble. The shades of night added to the fearfulness of the view. 

Our carrioles overtook us, and we trotted briskly towards 
the brink. There we could look down into a deep, black 
mountain-valley, and distinguished faintly a few objects far 
below at the bottom. The road which was to take us down 
could be plainly seen even in the darkness, in white zig- 
zags of the sharpest angles, so steep that we seemed right 
over the lowest turn, as it led off into the valley. The 
scene was frightful — and I felt, at the time, the grandest 
we had yet seen ; still, with all that, and though I drove 
myself, almost hanging over the horse's neck, with this 
awful chasm below, where a mis-step would have plunged 
me down thousands of feet, — I could not keep awake ! It 
was most pitiable. I seemed to myself like an unfortunate 
gentleman under a sleepy sermon. I struggled, cried to 
to the horse, looked behind, pictured the danger, impressed 
myself with the grandeur, but it was all useless — my head 
fell forward, and I was waked from a dream at every new 
angle. 



A Wet Tk IP,, 161 

Luckily the sure ISTorwegian horse saved me any bad 
effects. The road in the valley below lay through a pass of 
perpendicular cliffs, nearly six thousand feet high. We 
reached Gudvangen about midnight — found almost every 
room occupied with travellers, but at length secured a dirty 
sitting-room and doubtful little bed-room. 

The next morning a hard rain was pouring, still we both 
concluded it was better to take it in the boat, than in these 
miserable quarters ; so we had our carrioles and baggage 
put aboard a large eight-oared boat, and set off, on a 
branch of the Sogne Fiord, for Leirdals-oren, a distance of 
thirty-one miles. There were only four oarsmen, and we 
prepared ourselves for a long day. 

Our equipment was thoroughly tested on this day's jour- 
ney. We sat for eleven mortal hours under almost incessant 
rain, and did not get wet or suffer any inconvenience from 
the dampness. My wife's aquascutum, and my india-rubber 
•pondia^ with coats and umbrellas, fully protected us. But to 
say that the sight, at length, of a large modern hotel, in 
Leirdals-oren, with comfortable beds and a good warm sup- 
per, was refreshing, is, as the reporters say, "a feeble 
expression." 

This Fiord which we have just passed in such a wretched 
manner, has many interesting relations connected with it. 
On one part, the scene of Frithiof's Saga is laid — a tale so 
beautifully rendered by Tegner. The upper portions con- 
tain some of the most inaccessible valleys of Norway. It 
is related of one village on it, that the people are so shut in 
by continuous winter, that the dead are preserved frozen 



162 TheNokse-Folk. 

till spring, and are then taken to tlie distant cliurcli for 
burial ! 

From Leirdals-oren the road continually ascends towards 
another of the great plateaux of Norway — the Fille Field. 
Along the stream which flows through the valley, we saw 
numerous salmon-fishers. Some were English gentlemen, 
with their guides. The most interesting object on the 
route, was one of the ancient Norwegian churches at Bor- 
gund. A similar one near Leirdals-oren, was bought by the 
King of Prussia, and carried to Silesia, for a curiosity. 

This church at Borgund is one of the few surviving build- 
ings in Norway, and indeed in Europe, of an original 
architecture — the architecture in wood by the early North- 
men. It bears marks of Byzantine influence, as do some of 
the oldest cottages in the country — an influence caught 
from the early expeditions of the Vikings to Constantinople, 
but it is still a style affected by Northern climate and by 
the material used. It is almost impossible to describe, and 
I must trust mainly to the accompanying sketch, to give an 
impression of it. The first sensation, on coming in view of 
it, in the sohtary mountain-valley, is as if suddenly seeing a 
huge, mailed animal, with many necks and heads, resting on 
the earth — of something fantastic and living. You cannot 
in the least understand its structure or shape as a church ; 
on approaching, you discover that it is primarily a little 
building of Norwegian pine, with cloisters or galleries built 
out on it in double rows, the first making part of the inte- 
rior, and the second being really open galleries or arcades in 



A Unique Church. 163 

Byzantine style. The whole is covered with small pointed 
shingles, fitting closely, and smeared with pitch, giving an 
appearance of scales, or of a coat of mail. The spire has 
an Oriental aspect, and the gables and summits are sur- 
mounted by all sorts of quaint, tasteless heads and angular 
ornaments — these last probably being the first fruits of the 
Kenaissance transplanted here. The doorway has some 
curious carving in wood of the ancient mythological sub- 
jects — the Midgaard serpent, perhaps, swallowing the works 
of man before the final destruction. 

The nave is only thirty-nine feet long and the circular 
apse fifteen by fifty-four. I mounted a ladder into its singu- 
lar little galleries, and saw, over the organ, a full-sized 
stuffed figure of a reindeer. 

The church was built probably within a hundred years 
after the introduction of Christianity, in the eleventh cen- 
tury. It owes its remarkable preservation to the dry cold 
climate, and to the preserving effects of the pitch on the 
well-seasoned wood. 

In driving over the highest part of the plateau at night, 
we passed a solitary saetter-cottage. I stopped, waded 
through the mud, and rapped at the door. There were two 
pretty young girls in it, without light except from the fire. 
They said they spent three months there, making butter and 
cheese, and scarce ever saw a human being. In the autumn, 
they drove the cows down the mountain again. They had 
eighty cows in this pasture, beside goats and horses. De- 
spite the lonely life, they looked very merry and blooming — 



164: The Nokse-Folk. 

" Wer'n't they afraid ?" " Oh no : there were no bears there 
except in winter." 

Our post-boy says, that these mountain-pastures are ex- 
cellent, and that if they did not use them in this way, they 
should not be able to get the hay down. 

We stopped at a very good station, in a lonely place, 
3,110 feet above the sea — Nystuen — with only the poorest 
vegetation surrounding it, and high poles, like telegraph- 
poles, on all th6 roads, to mark the path in the deep snow. 
The triangular wooden snow-plow, seem at every little 
distance, on the side of the road, shows the wintry situ- 
ation. 

A PARSONAGE. 

I had a card of introduction to Pastor S , at X , 



but from my experience thus far of Norwegian pastors was 
doubtful whether to stop, even to make inquiries. I con- 
cluded at length, however to do so, for a few moments. A 
stout, hearty gentleman, with a pipe, came to the door. He 
glanced over the card—'' Yelkommen ! welcome !" he said, 
with a most cordial ahake. A lady of sweet countenance 
was introduced as his wife, and they went out to take my 
wife from her vehicle and bring her to the house. They 
almost insisted we should spend some days with them, but 
we alleged our haste, and said we would merely pass an 
afternoon, and a pleasant afternoon it was. We chatted 
with the pastor, enjoyed a social family dinner, and walked 
over the grounds of the parsonage. 

T was asking of the number of people in the parish. " It is 



A Heaett Pastoe. 165 

about 2,900," the pastor said, "and we have five churches. 
Ach 1 Herr B.," he continued, in German, "this is easy 
work to what I have had in my life. Once I used to have 
to journey five miles (thirty-J&ve English miles,) on every 
holy Sabbath-day — two (fourteen English) on the water, 
and two over mountains, where snow was two or three feet 
deep, and then I would find three hundred poor people 
waiting to receive the sacraments. Here it is pleasant, if 
our parish were only out of debt." 

I told him of our interest in the old Church at Borgund. 
'' Ach yes ! — and to think," he said, "that we should have 
lost that other beautiful one. You know that Frederick 
William bought it for fifty-five species (dollars). I fear this 
will go too some day, we are so poor I" 

His schools seemed flourishing. There was one established 
school, and four circulating schools, passing from house 
to house, with three hundred children in all attending them. 

His salary was $500, with the parsonage — (a very neat 
building of two stories.) I asked of the morale of the parish. 
He said there used to be from fifty to one hundred illegitimate 
children every year, but now, since he had come, there were 
not more than five or six. 

He showed me his stables ; the cattle were at the saetter^s. 
He had twenty-five cows, and seven or eight horses. 

" Do you see that stone, Herr B., under the stalls ? That 
is a hauta sfeen, with runes. I will read them." He trans- 
lated a burial inscription, as usual, of little importance. I 
asked whether many old Norse relics were found still. He 
said that the most had been gathered and sent to the 



166 The Nokse-Folk. 

museums, but still, occasionally they were discovered, and 
the peasants had much reverence for them. 

" Do you find, Herr Pastor, many superstitions among the 
peasants T' 

" Not as many as formerly," he replied, " but still a few 
now and then. You see that mountain over the valley 
there — with snow some way towards the foot. There is a 
cavern in it, from which sometimes the air escapes with a 
loud noise. The peasants still believe that it is the demons, 
or mountain-spirits bursting out ! 

" I knew a cross in a certain burying-ground once, where 
the peasants used to go to be healed from rheumatism, and 
certain other disorders. It was a great trouble to break up 
the superstition." 

We had then a very interesting conversation together, 
about the Norwegian superstitions. That multitude of little 
sprites, fairies, elves, red-capped dwarfs, giants, Nisser, 
Thusser, and Yaetter, who haunted their forefathers, still 
pursue, for good or evil, the Norwegian peasants. They are 
supposed usually to be the fallen angels, who had not sinned 
so deeply as to deserve Hell, but who were scattered over 
the earth in the mountains and waters. 

One very common belief is in the Huldra. She looks 
like a beautiful woman, but has, concealed, a cow's udder 
and tail. Sometunes when she appears among the dancers 
at a peasant's wedding, this tail betrays her, and if it be 
noticed, she is terribly offended. She is pictured as a sad 
being, though wonderfully lovely, and her song has a melan- 
choly tone when heard among the hills. This belief is 



Superstitions. 16T 

very ancient, and lias a deep moral meaning. The insep- 
arable union of the animal nature with the higher, being 
viewed as the fitting punishment for sin. 

THE WILD EIDERS. 

One of the most fearful phantoms to the peasant, is 
the Aasgaardsreia — '^ the Wild Hunt." These are the 
spirits of drunkards, and ale-house fighters and perjurers, 
who have not been condemned to hell. They are com- 
pelled to ride over the world till doomsday. They are 
mounted on coal-black steeds, with eyes of fire, and gov- 
erned with red hot iron bridles and bits ; and their clank- 
ing and rush as they sweep over mountain and lake are 
heard for miles. 

They ride most at Christmas time, and especially love 
the place of drunken fightings and carousals, or where 
murder is breeding. Where they drop a saddle on the roof, 
there will be death. Whoever meets them, should throw 
himself flat on his face, till the clanking, cursing crew have 
passed. 

This is probably one of the oldest beliefs in Norway — 
dating before Christianity. 

One hears frequently in Norway of the '' Gertrud's Bird.''' 
The story as the peasants believe it, is thus told by Thorpe 

gertrud's bird. 
" In Norway, the red-crested, black woodpecker is known under 
the name of Gertrud's Bird. Its origin is as follows : " When our 
Lord, accompanied by St. Peter, was wandering on earth, they came 



168 The E'okse-Folk. 

to a woman who was occupied in baking ; her name was Gertrud, 
and on her head she wore a red hood. Weary and hungry from 
their long journeying, our Lord begged for a cake. She took a 
little dough and set it on to bake, and it grew so large that it filled 
the whole pan. Thinking it too much for alms, she took a smaller 
quantity of dough, and again began to bake, but this cake also 
swelled up to the same size as the first; she then took still less 
dough, and when the cake had become as large as the preceding 
' ones, Gertrud said : ' You must go without alms, for all my bakings 
are too large for you!' Then was our Lord wroth, and said: 'Be- 
cause thou gavest me nothing, thou shalt for punishment become 
a little bird, shalt seek thy dry food between the wood and the 
bark, and drink only when it rains.' Hardly were these words 
spoken when the woman was transformed to the Gertrud bird, 
and flew away through the kitchen chimney ; and at this day she 
is seen with a red hood and black body, because she was blackened 
by the soot of the chimney. She constantly pecks the bark of trees 
for sustenance, and whistles against rain ; for she always thirsts and 
hopes to drink." 

Throughout my journey, I have been surprised at the 
extent of these superstitions among the peasantry. If a 
child is sick, two eggs must be deposited in an ant-hill ; 
if an older person, the witch-doctors will advise the peasant 
to seek for the fat of a white worm, found at the meeting 
of two cross-roads. 

Decoctions are still made with magical formulae in the 
lonely cabins. For rheumatism, I heard in one place of 
binding the limbs with nine withes of the branches of cer- 
tain trees. When the cattle are diseased, a snake will be 
buried near the threshold. One gentleman told me that 
he saw a soldier shoot with a silver bullet over a paralytic 



Elfin Spirits.. 169 

woman to cure her. Steel is a great remedy, and a con- 
stant amulet against the evil spirits — a key put in the 
cradle will keep off the black dwarfs from the infant. 

The workman will frequently, while at his labor, hear 
the derisive laugh of the little elves behind, and sometimes 
he is called up in the night to find a whole stable disturbed 
by the invisible intruders. The peasant is so far influenced 
by modern habits of thought, that he is ashamed to confess 
these superstitions, except to those whom he knows well, 
but if he is watched, he will be seen frequently to raise 
his hat or bow his head, where these spirits and elves are 
supposed most often to be present. 

After a long agreeable talk at the pastor's, we rode away, 
very much pleased with the conversation, and the simple, 
hearty people. 

Our ride was at first through very grand and impressive 
scenery ; in some places, the road winding just on the edge 
of frightful precipices, so that our postman insisted on our 
walking. As we drew on into the valley of the Little Mjosen 
Lake, it became a most sweet, pastoral country, with rich 
farms, orchards^ luxuriant grain-fields and gently rounded 
hills. There had been a rain, and everything was fresh and 
sparkling under the sun of a spring-like afternoon. It was a 
delicious drive. We noticed that every farm-house had its 
own little grist-mill, turned by a running stream. The num- 
ber of streams and water-falls is one characteristic of this 
country. I do not believe I spent two nights in Norway (out 
of the cities) , where I was not lulled to sleep by the murmur 
of water-falls. 

8 



170 The Nokse-Folk. 

We stopped for a day in this valley at an excellent inn. 
Our two large rooms looked out over a wide reach of vale 
and wood, far away to snowy mountains. The landlady 
was very neat in her housekeeping and obliging, and we had 
acquaintances in the neighborhood, so that the rest and in- 
tercourse were very pleasant. One gentleman, to whom we 
had letters, was a wealthy pastor, living in a large hand- 
some house of two stories. His family seemed educated and 
refined persons — not peculiarly different from people of this 
class in every country. The father, I think, besides being a 
clergyman, is also a member of Parliament. 



i 



CHAPTER XV. 



A COUNTRY PASTOR. 



Among the others in this neighborhood to whom I had 
letters, was a clergyman, living at a little distance off the 
main routes. I started to visit him. The road to his house 
lay right over the mountain on one side of the valley of the 
Little Mjosen. It was a tremendously steep ascent, sometimes 
a grass-track through stones and rocks, and finally descend- 
ing into a beautiful retired valley on the other side. Nothing 
but a sure-footed Norwegian horse, with a carriole, is fitted 
for the road. The little animal walked rapidly up, and then 
plunged down the mountain, without a check or hold from 
the driver — never making a false step or a stumble — doing 
the six miles, up mountain and down, within the hour. The 
parsonage was a neat, cream-colored, wood house, long, with 
French casements and of two stories, looking like the houses 
in a small German or French town. 

As is usual, there was no village, but little groups of 
brown log-houses (gaarde or farms), were scattered about on 
the hill-sides. A pleasant green bank, with roses, was in 
front of the house, and the foreground was made by a quiet 
lake, which stretched away as far as the eye could reach 
among the mountains. A most sweet, peaceful scene. 

171 



172 The Nokse-Folk. 

I was shown into a moderately large room, without car- 
pets, but with pretty furniture, mostly of birch-wood, and 
the unfailing ornament of Norwegian houses of all classes — 
flowers. There were also some good paintings and sketches 
of Norwegian scenery on the walls. 

The pastor was not at home, but the lady soon came in — • 
speaking German or French as I preferred, and a little 
English. She said they had a very quiet life there — seldom 
seeing an educated person, and they welcomed a stranger 
gladly. I was equally glad to meet intelligent people, who 
understood the country — so we were soon in conversation. 

I asked about her husband's duties. She said they were 
lighter than is usual ; the parish was small, only having 
2,000 souls, with three churches. He preached in one every 
Sunday, once a day, going some three or four miles ; he 
sometimes wrote his sermons, but often spoke merely from 
an abstract. 

Did he also have charge of the schools ? I asked. " Yes," 
she answered ; "he catechises all the children, and at the 
end of a term examines them in their other lessons. There 
are five ' circulating schools ' and one established school in 
the parish. Mr. Z. has always taken a great interest in 
educational matters, and he is trying now to do away with 
the * circulating schools ' — ^those you know which go from 
house to house — and have them all ' estabhshed.' He is 
obliged beside to make a return of the attendance, and the 
character of the scholars." 

I said that the country clergymen in Norway seemed the 
general fathers and directors of the peasants. 



Morals of Peasants. 173 

Yes, she said, it was so. They came to Mr. Z. for all 
possible aid and advice — and as the only magistrate or law- 
yer was fourteen miles off, he had often to settle their legal 
squabbles. Besides, the government made him take the 
census of the parish — and he must return the number of 
cow.s, the produce, the population, and all that. Still, she 
said, the labor was not burdensome, if one could only see 
more of the moral fruits sometimes. 

I inquired as to the general morality of the honders 
of the province. She thought that there had been a great 
improvement. Intoxication was certainly very much dimi- 
nished. When they first came to the parish, seven years 
ago, every bonder brought his brandy-bottle and knife with 
him to the church, and perhaps to the communion altar ; 
then, after service, they would take their meals on the grass 
by the church, drink, quarrel, and sometimes have very dis- 
agreeable scenes. Mr. Z. had finally put a stop to that, 
and government had made it so difficult to get brandy, that, 
altogether, there was a great progress. In respect to 
licentiousness, though there was much improvement, there 
were still considerable numbers of illegitimate children every 
year in the parish. Marriages were scarcely ever known to 
be broken. She could only think of one, even disagreement, 
for many years, between married couples — but this evil pre- 
vailed everywhere in Norway. She thought the great cause 
was an old custom, which is still followed throughout the 
country — of lovers being allowed to visit the servant maids 
or peasant girls Saturday night. 

It is a strange thing to an American car — but every- 



174 The Noese-Folk. 

where in Norway this crime is attributed to this old custom, 
which began innocently, and is still, in some districts, inno- 
cently observed, but which is now mostly clear licentious- 
ness. The estimate of those who have investigated, is, that 
every tenth child in Norway is illegitimate.* 

In this lady's judgment — and she had a clear, sharp 
sense — a great deal of the religion of the farmers and pea- 
sants was merely religiosity — a strong feeling of reverence, 
and a susceptibility to ceremonials. It seemed to her that 
their consciences had something of the toughness and hard- 
ness of their bodies. They were able to endure anything 
physically, and sufferings or trials or thoughts of death, did 
not affect them as they do others. They came in crowds to 
church and communion, but she could not say that religion, 
in her observation, had a strong hold over their practical 
life — still there were exceptions, very beautiful ones, and 
the evil might be no greater there than it is everywhere. 

We spoke next of some of the Lutheran doctrines, and I 
asked for the passage in the Lutheran service, where the 
clergyman says, ^^ I forgive you your sins, in the name of 
the Father, the Son, and Ploly Ghost." After some little 
search, the church-book was found in which the service was 
contained (a book used only by the clergymen), and the 
context was even stronger than I suspected. It read " by 
authority of God and my office " — and as Christ has given 
us full power to remit sins, etc., ^' I forgive" etc. 

She admitted it was hard to defend, and said that many 
objections were now raised against it, and that Pastor Lom- 

* See Appendix. 



State Church. 175 

mers had taken the position that there could be no Absolu- 
tion without full Confession. 

While we were talking, the pastor came in — a thoughtful, 
earnest-looking man. His views of the low state of moral- 
ity and religion among the farmers were stronger even than 
his wife's. They were still suffering, he said, from the long 
period under the Danish rule, when everything had been put 
under the will of absolute power. "There was one king, 
sir, who considered himself to own all our churches, and 
who sold a large number to obtain money ! The farmers 
have never recovered from the evil effects of that time." 

He agreed to my explanation that the Reformation had 
not taken so deep a hold of the ISTorwegian and Swedish 
peoples as of other nations ; and had been more forced by 
the rulers on the people for pecuniary objects. " The worst 
is," said he, '' the State-Church I We can do nothing — we 
are fettered." 

His wife suggested that the government was very liberal. 
"Yes," he said, "but in a Lutheran direction. The moment 
we leave that, we are exposed to censure. There is no gen- 
uine liberty in our arrangements. I believe in liberty as the 
best atmosphere for a church. Here, now, in our parish, the 
people have not the least share in calling the pastor, or in 
managing the church. I have studied your American system 
—especially among the Independents — and T much prefer it," 
Like most thoughtful persons, he is expecting, before a 
long time, a disturbance in the church of Norway. "Ideas," 
he says, "work slowly among his countrymen, but with great 
power." 



176 The Noes E- Folk. 

He iiifij,!.!.- me that Pastor Lommers has entirely seceded 
from the State-Church, but that the government has acted 
with very good sense, and offers to pay him a pension, so 
that there may be no disturbance. So far as I can under- 
stand, the position of Lommers is rather technical than 
founded on any deep principle. He objects to Absolution, 
for instance, not because no man has the right to forgive 
sin, but from some quibble that forgiveness cannot be 
declared without statement of the particular guilt. 

The Hougianer, a kind of Methodist sect, still exist, 
though Houge, their founder, died in 1824. Pastor Z. 
says that their views do not materially differ from those we 
meet with at the North — being founded especially on a 
belief in the inner inspiration of each man, and in the doc- 
trine of regeneration alone by grace. 

" We have not yet had the dissent, Herr B.," said the 
Pastor, " which has shown itself in other lands, but it must 
come." 

''We have spoken hardly of our people," said the lady, 
" but you must remember these are the Valders-people — the 
Jews of Norway ! Have you not experienced how very 
avaricious they are in their charges ?" 

I replied that I had not : on the contrary, I bad found 
them very honest, and I related an instance which had just 
occurred in our inn. My wife had left a valuable ring in 
her valise, and in drying this in the kitchen, it had rolled 
out, and was found by a servant, and returned, as a matter 
of course. 

" Good I that is not common," she said ; "the fact is, the 



\ 



Conversion of Heathen. 177 

mode in which they were converted to Christianity seems to 
haye affected them always. You have surely read it in 
Snorro Sturleson's Sagas ?"* 

* We subjoin the account in Laing's translation: "The King 
proceeded to Valders, where the people were still heathen. He 
hastened up to the lake in Valders, came unexpectedly on the 
Bonders, seized their vessels, and went on board of them with all 
his men. He sent out message-tokens, and appointed a Thing so 
near the lake, that he could use the vessels if he found he required 
them. The Bonders resorted to the Thing in a great and well-armed 
host ; and when he commanded them to accept Christianity, the Bon- 
ders shouted against him ; told him to be silent, and made a great 
uproar and clashing of weapons. But when the king saw that they 
would not listen to what he would teach them, and also, that they had 
too great a force to contend with, he turned his discourse, and asked 
if there were people at the Thing who had disputes with each other, 
that they wished him to settle. It was soon found by the conversa- 
tion of the Bonders that they had many quarrels among themselves, 
although they had all joined in speaking against Christianity. When 
the Bonders began to set forth their own cases, each endeavored to 
get some upon his side to support him ; and this lasted the whole day 
long until evening, when the Thing was concluded. When the 
Bonders had heard that the king had travelled to Valders, and was 
come into their neighborhood, they had sent out message-tokens 
summoning the free and the unfree to meet in arms, and with this 
force they advanced against the king, so that the neighborhood all 
around was left without people. When the Thing was concluded the 
Bonders still remained assembled ; and when the king observed this 
he went on board his ships, rowed in the night right across the water, 
landed in the country there, and began to plunder and burn. The 
day after the king's men rowed from one point of land to another, 
and over all the king ordered the habitations to be set on fire. 



178 The Noese Folk. 

A very social meal was now enjoyed, well-served, and 
after coffee, the lady played and sang for us some national 
music on the piano. This music is not, in my judgment, 
equal to the Scotch or Hungarian national music, but it 
contains some very pleasing airs, both lively and plaintive- 
some named from, and perhaps springing from the popular 
superstitions, and others associated with the peculiar pea- 
sant life. 

After this pleasant amusement, the pastor produced some 
cigars, and we went out for a walk. Beside other places, 
he took me to a Bonder's farm, near by. I found here the 
usual division of houses for each separate department — one 
for a carpenter's shop, one for a grist-mill, store-house, 
machine-house, smithery, etc., etc. — every trade being car- 
ried on upon the farm. They were building one new house, 
and on inquiring, I learned that it was for the father. He 
was about, as is customary, to give up the farm to his son, and 

"Now when the Bonders, who were assembled, saw what the king 
was doing, namely, plundering and burning, and saw the smoke and 
llame of their houses, they dispersed, and each hastened to his own 
home to see if he could find those he had left. As soon as there 
came a dispersion among the crowd, the one slipped away from the 
other, until the whole multitude was dissolved. Then the king rowed 
across the lake again, burning also on that side of the country. Now 
came the Bonders to him begging for mercy, and offering to submit 
to him. He gave every man who came to him peace if he desired it, 
and restored to him his goods ; and nobody refused to adopt Chris 
tianity. The king then had the people christened, and took hostages 
from the Bonders. He ordered Churches to be built and consecrated, 
and placed teachers in them." 



A Farmek. 179 

be supported henceforth by him, though still himself in full 
strength. I talked with the old man about his farm. He 
said they would be very glad of some of the new American 
machines : he had heard of the horse-rake. The reaper 
would not do well here, owing to their hilly and stony 
ground. He had one machine, which he had invented him- 
self for sifting, which he showed me. They had the usual 
thresh-machine, turned by cattle or horses. 

He said that they had sent twenty-five men from his gaard 
alone, to America, who were doing well. 

" Would you go ?" said my friend. 

'' Not to be king," said he, " if they had one." 

We went into his house, a log-cabin of two stories. It was 
kept with perfect neatness. There were no carpets, but 
bare boards throughout, yet it had some articles of furni- 
ture quite rich and handsome. The sprinkling of the juni- 
per-twigs on the floor instead of sand, struck me at once. It 
is an old Norse custom, appearing in the earliest pagas. 
The peasant woman showed us the bed-rooms, and her own 
bridal gifts of dresses, with much pride. In one room was a 
complete fit-out for a soldier. This gaard is obliged to send 
at least one soldier to the National forces. The gun, I ob- 
served, was a species of Minie-rifle, loading at the breech. 

The manner of the peasant through our visit was ex- 
tremely dignified and self-possessed. The only contrast to 
American habits was in his bearing towards the clergyman, 
and the clergyman's to him, indicating a much greater differ- 
ence or separation of classes, than we know in similar cir- 
cumstances. I inquired about wages. They are much 



180 TheE"okse-Folk. 

higher than they were formerly ; at present 16 cents a day 
usually, except in harvesting, when they might be 63 cents. 
A servant maid had $16 a year, double the wages of a few 
years ago. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

RETURN JOURNEY TO CHRISTIANIA. 

The scenery through our whole route, till we approached 
the Mjbseri Lake again, was very interesting ; in some places 
bold and mountainous, but generally more peaceful and lux- 
uriant than we had previously seen. 

In the village of M , we stopped to visit the Soren- 

sJcriver, or Justice of the Peace. A family of intelligent 
ladies were in the house, who made us welcome, and 
though we had only an hour or two to spend, it was a very 
agreeable visit. Delicious mountain strawberries, with the 
national dish of solidified sour-cream were brought in, and 
afterwards excellent coffee. The ladies plucked some beau- 
tiful flowers for my wife. They had a tutor in the house, 
and all spoke English or German. 

In the course of the conversation, I asked the Judge about 
the effect on the peasants of this system of posting — ^whether 
it did not tend to make them idle, and to injure their regu- 
lar business ? 

He said it did not : that it was certainly hard now and 
then, to take a peasant's horses just in the midst of harvest- 
ing, but the wages paid were so high, that generally they 
liked the duty, and made money by it. 



182 The Norse-Folk. 

We spoke of this class of Fante or gipsies. " An abom- 
inable set," said he, " we can't get rid of them. We are 
losing all sorts of good capable Bonders, who are emigrating 
to your country ; but these never go I We shut them up, 
and it does no good I" 

I asked about his duties and appointment. 

He is placed, it appears by government, and cannot be 
removed, except by impeachment, and is required to have 
taken a degree in law in the University. He has a court in 
every parish under his control, and holds a session there at 
least once in the three months. 

His duties seem to correspond to those of a Justice of 
the Peace with us, except that property is registered in his 
court, and all cases affecting titles are brought before him. 
The peculiar Norwegian characteristic of this officer is, that 
in company with the Sheriff and the G-overnor (amtmand), 
he must appoint a standing jury of eight tax-payers, to act 
with him for the year. He judges alone, in trifling cases, 
but in all important cases, the Justice and the jury make one 
body, each person with only one voice, and frequently thus 
the jurymen outvote the Judge, and decide against him. 
There is an appeal from his Court to the Provincial Court, 
and all his decisions are to be revised there, and if on cri- 
minal causes, they cannot be executed, till there sanc- 
tioned. 

There are sixty-four of these courts in Norway. As of 
all the officials in Norway, my impression of this Justice 
was most favorable. In some way, the Norwegians have 
hit much better than either we or the English on the 



Courts. 183 

essential requisite of government — putting the right man 
in the right place. 

The fact that the great mass of the people are property- 
holders, with a permanent interest in the country, and 
without the great wealth which would lead to indifference 
of public affairs, is probably the explanation of this intelli- 
gent, and practical administration in this country. 

COMPROMISE COURTS. 

One of the most characteristic institutions of Norway, is 
the Court of Compromise. It is of Danish origin. 

The arbiter or judge, who may be of any profession 
but the law, is elected in every parish by the resident pro- 
perty-owners, once in three years. In the larger parishes, 
he is allowed assistants. He serves for a merely nominal 
salary. Every case whatsoever must be brought before 
him, but always by the parties personally. No lawyer's 
aid is allowed. The statement of each of the litigants is 
entered on the minutes of the Court, and the arbiter de- 
cides between them. K they accept his opinion as final, 
it is brought to the Justice's Court, and, if approved, 
entered, and becomes a legal decision. If one or the other 
objects to his arbitration, the party objecting appeals to 
the Justice Court, but he will be obliged to pay the whole 
expenses of both litigants, if the proposal of arbitration 
is found just and reasonable. In this Court, and henceforth 
in all the courts to which the case may go, the parties 
can employ counsel, but through them all, the only evidence 



184: The JSToese-Folk. 

or statement of facts received are the minutes of the first 
Compromise Court. 

In another point of legal institution," Norway stands 
almost alone — -in the Responsibility of Judges. I quote from 
Christian Y.'s code, as given by Laing : 

'* Should any judge deliver a wrong decision, and that happen either 
because he has not rightly instructed himself in the case, or that the 
case has been wrongly represented to him, or that he has done it 
from want of judgment, he shall make good to the party whom he 
has wronged by such decision, his proven loss, expense, and damage 
sustained; and can it be proved that the judge has been influenced 
by favor, friendship, or gifts, or if the case be so clear, that it cannot 
be imputed to want of judgment, or to wrong instruction upon it, 
then he shall be displaced, and declared incapable of ever sitting 
as a judge again, and shall forfeit to the injured party what he has 
suffered, should it be to the extent of fortune, life, or honor." 

It is also provided, says Laing, that if a judge die during 
the course of an appeal from his decision, his heirs are 
responsible for the damages. The inferior justices, where 
there are no damages to pay, are fihed for wrong decisions ; 
and if these are reversed three times, they are displaced. 
The law provides, too, against long delay on the part of 
the judges, before giving their decisions. 

There is much difference of opinion on both these pecu- 
liarities of Norwegian law — the establishment of the Com- 
promise Courts, and the rendering the Judges responsible. 
The Norwegian lawyers do not seem to hold them in high 
estimation, though travellers and foreigners have generally 



Parsonage. 185 

found them worthy of much commendation. To me, they 
both seem reasonable, calculated to lessen litigation, and 
further the ends of justice. 

R. L d. — We stopped here at a large parsonage. 

The yard was filled with children, who were present for 
instruction, previous to Confirmation. This teaching is not 
only in religious matters, but in all common-school branches, 
and must be a very heavy burden to the clergymen. The 
ladies within were sitting in different parts of the large 
saloon, sewing and embroidering, and the pastor, with pipe 
and smoking-cap, had been studying. He informed me that 
his parish contained 10,000 people, with five churches and 
two pastors ; there were in it 11 circulating schools, and 
one established school, with 14 teachers in all, and about 
1,200 scholars. 

With respect to the moral habits of the peasantry, he 
gives for his parish the usual average of illegitimacy — one 
in eleven. 

S . — An excellent hotel, with large, neat rooms, and 

modern conveniences. The charge for service, beds, and 
breakfasts, was thirty cents for both I 

We turned off from the main road, in order to catch the 
steamboat on the Mjosen Lake at Hun. The last station is 
at Mustaed^ where I had a letter to the nn-keeper, who is 
one of the best farmers on the Mjosen. He took us all 
over his farm. There was nothing in it materially different 
from what I had already seen, except that everything 
seemed under very careful management. His stables were 
on the best modern principles for drainage and light ; the 



186 The N oese-Folk . 

granaries were very large and neat ; we saw in one part 
great piles of the Jiadhrbd — dried pea-cakes, a foot and a 
half in diameter — kept for the winter's food. He had the 
usual clumsy thrashing-machine, but ploughs of modern con- 
struction — I think American. Most of the products seemed 
to be consumed on the farm. 

The most interesting thing about this estate is its history. 
The landlord showed me a new barn, built where, a few 
years before, was one of the most interesting relics in Nor- 
way, visited, he said, by people from every country. This 
is the story, well authenticated, though I did not get the 
dates accurately. 

Some hundred years ago, a hunter was following his game 
through the woods near Lake Mjosen. Suddenly, in the 
midst of a dense thicket, he came upon some walls over- 
grown with weeds and bushes ; surprised at this, he worked 
his way among them, and, at length, found himself at a 
moss-covered door of an ancient house. From its firmly 
supiDorted roof, a young grove had sprung up, with all the 
flowers and rank weeds of the wilderness. Everything out- 
side was dank and gloomy ; the casements had fallen in, and 
glossy vines had crept out from within. He touched the 
door, and the worm-eaten wood fell away from the hinges ; 
he entered, awe-struck, the damp lonely rooms, and rats and 
mice ran over the floors, and night-birds flew out of the 
windows. The remains of furniture were about, and, as his 
eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he plainly distin- 
guished, in one corner, on the ruins of a bed, the bare skele- 
ton of a man. Shocked, he left the room and entered 



The Deserted Tillage. 187 

another — there again was a skeleton, and another I Some 
were sitting, others lying on the floor ; there was no noise, 
except the rattling of the rats through the empty rooms. 
The ghastly company lay scattered about, as if they had 
been stricken with fearful disease, and had died helpless and 
deserted. Overcome with the fearful sight, the hunter 
rushed from the house of death, and stumbled among the 
ruins of other houses, and fled to the nearest village. He 
told his terrible tale there, and finally the oldest men 
remembered that there were traditions that before the 
devastation of Norway by the "Black Death," there had 
been a settlement near the lake — though exactly where it 
was, no one had known. The ruined houses were now 
investigated, and it was found that this was probably the 
place. The dead were decently buried, and the hunter 
took possession of the property, calling the place Mustaed. 
The forest was cleared, new houses were built, and, till 
within a few years, the old ruined house was still to be 
seen. 

Such stories are not uncommon about different parts of 
Norway. In Yalders, where I lately had so pleasant a 
visit, I was told of a church still called the " Bear-Ohurch," 
from the following incident : 

A hunter had wounded a bear, and it took refuge in the 
midst of a dense thicket. The man forced his way in, and 
discovered the ruins of a church, inside of which he at 
length shot the bear. 

The discovery was made known, and people flocked to 
see the ruin, and it was at length remembered that there 



188 The Norse-Folk. 

had been a thriving Parish here before the Plague had 
desolated it. The most intelligent persons in Norway be- 
lieve that this part of the country was once much more thickly 
peopled, than it is now ; and that one of the causes of the 
diminution of the population was this attack of the Plague.* 

As we drove away from Mustaed, a man, who looked 
like a workman, asked me in very good Enghsh, if he could 
ride behind me. On inquiry, I found he was a laboring 
man who had been in America, and had returned to see 
his friends for a short time. We drove on together towards 
the lake, holding a great deal of talk about the compara- 
tive condition of a laborer in the two countries. 

"I cannot bear it here, sir," said he, ''in no way. I 
had a kind o' expected to have stayed till fall — but it's too 
lonesome. There isn't nothing going on." 

"I suppose you are very well off now in America?" 
said I. 

'' Oh yes ; I have one of these farms of mine own in 
Wisconsin, and I let it out for the summer. When I was 
here, I used to have a terribly hard time. I tell you, sir, 
I've worked from 4 o'clock till 8, month in and month 
out, and only got seven cents a day and found ! They say 
now it's about sixteen cents." 

I asked about machines. 

'' They don't know nothing about machine-work. Look 
at 'em — there they'd keep six men for a week to mow 
twelves acres, and I'd just take one of our mowing-machines 

, * One of these occurred in 1372, A. D. 



Whisky Drinking. 189 

and dew it all in one day. They never seed a Reaper — ^nor 
even a horse-rake, nor any of 'em !" 

I asked about food. He replied, that they had pretty 
good fare in Norway, though not so much meat as in 
America. At four o'clock, he said, coffee and "flat bread" 
used to be sent out ; then they would rest at seven o'clock 
and have breakfast, consisting of bread and butter, cheese, 
smoked salmon, and a glass of whisky. Then they rested 
again at half past ten, and took a nap till twelve o'clock, 
when they ate dinner, usually of herrings, potatoes, and 
barley-soup. They stopped once more at three, and then 
worked till eight ; having four meals in the day, and resting 
four and a half hours. 

His reports of the change in drinking-habits corresponded 
with all I had heard. They used formerly to have a little 
still for whisky on every gaard — but now the duties were 
so heavy on distilling, that it was manufactured only in 
a few places, and was difl&cult to procure. Among the 
farmers, he found coffee to be much drank in place of 
alcoholic liquors. 

We had a great deal of this sort of chat, till we reached 
Hun, with its pretty little inn. 

I had made a wrong calculation, and found myself just 
out of Norwegian money, with nothing but some English 
pound notes, which could not be exchanged, of course, in 
such a place. 

I told this man my situation, and there was something 
truly "Western" in the way in which he pulled out a 
bag of specie-dollars, handing me twenty or thirty — refusing 



190 TheJSToese-Folk. 

to take any receipt or note, and telling me I could pay 
it back in Christiania, or JSTew York, as I chose. 

The next morning, we were moving in a steamboat slowly 
down Lake Miosen, and by evening we were in our old 
rooms in the Hotel du Nord, Christiania, and soon among 
the cheerful, social people who make that city so pleasant in 
memory. 



Christiania, July — — -. — A friend took me to-day to see 
the hall where the Storthing, or National Assembly is held. 
It is a simple room, with seats radiating from the desk of 
the presiding officer, capable of holding one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred people comfortably. 

When we hear of Norway as under a monarchical govern- 
ment, we are liable to form an erroneous idea of her consti- 
tution. The truth is, that in all essential repects, she is as 
thoroughly self-governed as the United States. Her Con- 
gress, or National Assembly, is chosen through "electors" 
by the people — the only restriction being that every voter 
must be a land-owner, paying taxes, or a citizen of a town, 
or a possessor of real-estate in such town, to the value of 
$150. The Assembly has almost sole authority, and over 
the same class of subjects with our Congress. Even the 
power of veto, which rests with the king, is null, if a bill 
passes three successive sessions of this body. 

This was illustrated in the passage of the act in 1815, 
which abolished hereditary nobility in Norway. It passed 
the house in 1815, and was vetoed by the king ; it passed 



The Constitution. 191 

again in 1818, and was again vetoed ; but in 1821, though 
the Court used every means of intimidation and corruption, 
it became a law. By a wise provison, also, no change 
affecting the constitution proposed in one session can be 
passed till another, three years later — thus preventing im- 
portant measures, as is so often the case in our Congress, 
being passed through before the people have understood 
them, or before they have elected representatives with refer- 
ence to them. The Assembly of Norway does not even 
allow, as does the English Parliament, a member of the Gov- 
vernment to propose measures (except by writing), or to vote 
on any question. It receives the oaths of the king on com- 
ing of age, and in case of the royal line becoming extinct, it 
could, in conjunction with Sweden, elect a new sovereign. It 
meets by its own right every three years, and does not 
require the summons from the throne. In its internal struc- 
ture, it divides itself into two houses ; the whole Assembly 
choosing one fourth of its members to form the Senate, or 
Lagthing, which has judicial rights like our Senate. The 
remainder form the House of Representatives, or Odds- 
thing. 

Every part of the government administration comes under 
the control of this body, and its authority in the country is 
quite as great as that of our Congress. It can impeach and 
try before its Senate, even the ministers of the crown, and 
the supreme Judges of the country. 

Its number of members can not be over one hundred, 
representing both towns and country, in definite propor- 
tions. 



192 The' Noese-Folk. 

This Constitution, framed by Representatives of the people 
in 1814, has been a wonderful blessing to the nation, and 
with a free able press, has made Norway one of the most 
free and well-governed countries in the world. The people 
hold to it against the attacks of the Swedish government, 
with a peculiar jealousy ; and even dread all improve- 
ments proposed, for fear that a change once made, may 
draw after changes more vital. 



THE SCHOOLS OF NORWAY.* 

Norway, with respect to education, labors exceedingly 
under the difficulty of a scattered population. 

Out of her 1,400,000 inhabitants, only about 180,000 
dwell in towns, the remaining 1,220,000 being sprinkled here 
and there over an area of 5,150 square miles. As a conse- 
quence, stationary village-schools are hardly possible- in any 
great number. The law, from which the present school 
system of Norway dates its origin, which was passed in 
1139, did not require, very wisely, an education in any par- 
ticular place ; it simply demanded that the parents or guar- 
dians should instruct every child, or cause it to be instructed, 
in the branches usually taught in the district schools — the 
test of such instruction being the catechetical examinations 
by the clergyman, and the examination, previous to the con- 

* The facts in this article are principally derived from the conver- 
sations and reports of one of the great leaders of educational im- 
provement in Norway, Councillor Nisson, of Christiania. 



Schools. 193 

firmation, wMch last, the American reader must remember, 
is a necessary condition for all civil rights in Norway and 
Sweden. 

Circulating Schools. — -To meet the difficulty of the separ- 
ation of the population, the law also required Circulating 
Schools in every parish, as well as stationary. The parish 
is divided into a certain number of districts, and the teacher 
travels from one district to another — the children of each 
forming for the time his school. As an average, the term 
of each school is only eight weeks during the year. The 
lessons are given in the farm-houses, in the rooms where the 
peasants have been sleeping and eating — often uncomfortable 
and ill-ventilated apartments. The branches required to be 
taught by law are religion, reading, writing, singing, and 
arithmetic ; in point of fact they limit themselves to reading 
and ''religion" (i. e., very dry theology), with a little of 
writing and arithmetic. The teacher's salary is from $12 to 
$40 for thirty weeks' teaching, with his board. The whole 
number of these itinerating teachers is about 2,000, and of 
the schools about- 1,000. 

Stationary Schools. — These stand somewhat higher than 
the class of schools first mentioned in the quality of their 
instruction. The teachers also are better paid, the salary 
being about $90 per annum, with board and a piece of land 
for free use. They number about 380, with 24,000 pupils 
in attendance, and their terms are from 16 to 40 weeks in 
the year. The whole number of children attending both the 
circulating and stationary schools is estimated at about 
213,000. 

9 



194 The ]!:Toese-Folk. 

TIp'per District Schools — These are a small class of pay- 
schools, corresponding somewhat to our High Schools in 
America. The branches taught are those already mentioned 
as taught in the other schools, together with history, mensu- 
ration, natural history, and a foreign language — generally 
English. 

These schools require a slight payment from the pupils, 
but are supported by the parishes and by occasional grants 
from the Storthing or National Assembly. 

All the schools established by law are managed by the 
Town or Parish Council and the clergyman. No tax can be 
laid for their support except by a grant of the council. The 
head management in each province is in the hands of the 
High Sheriff and the Bishop of the diocese, who report again 
to the '' Governmental Department of Church and Educa- 
tion." 

The total expenses of all these Schools in the towns and 
country, together with that of five Normal Schools for 
teachers, and including the expenses of boarding teachers, 
are estimated by Councillor Nisson at about $195,000 per 
annum. 

Citizens' School. — These are a higher class of Schools, 
both public and private, belonging to the towns. The pupils 
are taught in common branches, in drawing, natural history, 
and German, French and English. The number of these is 
more than twenty ; the pupils about 3,000 ; expenses, about 

1,000 per annum. 

A still higher rank of these schools is called Real Schools. 

These have been established by the Government in eleven 



> Schools. ' 195 

towns, and are associated with the " Latin Schools." The 
latter prepare for the University with a five years' course ; 
the other, after their pupils are fourteen or fifteen years 
of age, send them out to practical life, or to the technical 
and military schools. 

In the Latin Schools, Grreek and Hebrew are taught ; in 
the Real Schools, beside the usual instruction of the best 
schools, bookkeeping, commercial correspondence, the pro- 
perties of goods, etc., are sometimes among the branches. 

There are also three Latin Schools, not connected with 
Real Schools, at Christiania, Trondhjem and Bergen, where 
the usual order is reversed, and Latin is studied before any 
foreign language. These three schools are supported by 
their own funds. Number of pupils in the eleven united 
schools, TOO ; in the three Latin schools, 300 ; total, 1,000. 
Annual expenses of both, $64,000. 

1^0 one can be a rector in these schools unless he has 
passed two public examinations. The conditions for the un- 
der teachers are equally strict. 

Beside these, there are Charity Schools in many towns for 
the children of poor laboring people, where the children 
remain the whole day, while the parents are at work. These 
are supported by both public and private contributions. 
Amount expended, about $6,000. 

There are four asylums in Norway for the instruction of 
the deaf and dumb. Another class of schools whose intro- 
duction would be highly advantageous to America, are the 
Agricultural and Drawing Schools for workingmen and 
mechanics. There are fourteen Agricultural Schools where 



196 The IsTokse-Folk. 

young men from eighteen to twenty are taught thoroughly 
in practical and scientific farming, in the application of 
manures, the construction of farming machines, the manage- 
ment of dairies, and the like. 

Throughout Norway there are eight Drawing Schools. 
To these of an evening the mechanics and laborers come 
together and receive instruction in modelling, drawing, mathe- 
matics, and natural philosophy. By the law, any person who 
would be a tinman, gun-maker, copper-worker, turner, 
brazier, goldsmith, wheelwright, instrument-maker, jeweller, 
painter, sadler, smith, stone-cutter, chair-maker or clock- 
maker, must produce a testimonial from the managers of 
this school. The effect of the instruction is found to be ex- 
cellent on the taste of this class in their various trades. The 
Drawing School at Christiania is the most distinguished, 
and costs nearly $3,000 per annum. The other seven are 
supported together at about the same rate. 

From what has been said of the condition of schools in 
the Norwegian towns, it is apparent that education is in a 
favourable state of progress, even compared with America. 
The working classes have better opportunities than they en- 
joy here. 

Of the country schools one can draw by no means so 
favorable a conclusion. Schools circulating from cabin to 
cabin, with teachers receiving $12 per annum as salary, and 
instructing each circle of scholars only eight weeks in the 
year, could not be of much value to the mental improvement 
of the nation. 

Still the country people of this kingdom are by no mean 



Intelligence of People. 197 

inferior in natural intelligence or in information. The same 
causes wMcli in that latitude, on a wintry Island, gave birth 
to a literature whose vigor and originality and high imagin- 
ation have not been surpassed in the early literature of any 
modern race, still work upon the descendants of the Northmen. 

Now, even as ten centuries ago in Iceland, the people 
enjoy a kind of democratic kingdom, where one man 
nominally is chief or king, but where the real power is in 
the hands of the Bonders or peasant-farmers. They have 
the free communal life — the right to govern themselves in 
small matters as well as great. They are continually trained 
in oratory, the arts of an Assembly, and the management of 
public affairs. This, of all schools, is the best, and can over- 
balance the advantages from books and teachers. 

The climate and the vast solitudes drive men within their 
own homes during the long winter evenings, and give occa- 
sion still, as of old, for a Saga literature — a literature of 
tales and history, and almost stern poetry, which is trans- 
mitted year by year around the roaring fire, from one gener- 
ation to another. Such people, though not drilled in mathe- 
matics and physics, cannot be called ignorant. They have 
unwritten histories and poems not in books ; and thoughts, 
nurtured by their grand solitary scenery, which are not 
given by religious writers, and yet which touch on the 
greatest mysteries of existence and immortality. 

The strong, weather-beaten features of the Norwegian 
peasant give you no impression of ignorance. The expres- 
sion is shrewd, reserved, and often sad or solemn — as of 
men much with great thoughts, which they could not or 



198 



The Norse-Folk. 



would not express. The questions you are asked show 
everywhere quick, active minds. 

When, at length, the defective system of " Circulating 
Schools " is improved, we may believe that Norway, in an 
intelligent and educated population, will stand equal with 
any country in the world. 



I I. 



Sweden. 



199 



CHAPTER XVII. 



GOTTENBUEG. 



After a most agreeable rest in Christiania of a week, I 
took the steamer over to Gottenburg, my wife returning to 
England by the Hull steamer. We had a passage of some 
twelve hours, and, on arriving at the quay, the luggage was 
examined as strictly as if it were a strange country — a cir- 
cumstance which called forth many sarcasms on the Swedish 
Union with Norway. 

The hotel at which I was lodged I found intolerable — the 
Gbtha Kdllare — dirty, bad-smelling, with no conveniences for 
eating, or hardly for sleeping. Price, about twenty-five 
cents a day for a room. I had no cause, however, to com- 
plain, for a very agreeable and intelligent gentleman to 
whom I had letters, took compassion on me, and carried me 
but of town, to his villa, a Uttle gem of a home, where I 
have been staying since. In his neighborhood are a variety 
of very handsome places — ^houses with large gardens and 
groves — where people live in considerable style. They are 
principally the villas of the wealthy merchants, doing busi- 
ness in the city. All speati English, and their manners are 
exceedingly cordial and agreeable, with a certain sincerity 

9* 201 



202 . The Nokbe-Folk. 

and half-seriousness of tone, whicli inspire confidence. They 
seem usually intelligent and even cultured men. 

I had the opportunity, on my first Sunday, of hearing 
Bishop Thomander preach — the leading pulpit-orator of 
Sweden. The church was crowded to the doors. The 
order of exercises was the same as I have already described 
in Norway — the usual Lutheran liturgy and form. The 
Bishop was attired in a black surplice, with a brilliant 
embroidered cross on his back. Like most great orators, 
he was a man of large, heavy ]^hysique. His manner was 
very easy and voice rich and powerful, as of a man accus- 
tomed to address large audiences. So far as I could see, he 
read his sermon, with occasional bursts of extemporaneous 
oratory. From my want of familiarity with the language, 
and the distance where I stood, I could make out but little 
of the address. He has the reputation of a man more fer- 
vid than profound. 

Aug. . — I have been visiting with my friend, the 

various charitable institutions of Gottenburg — among these, 
the Willinska School for the poor. In this institution, car- 
pentry and smithery are learnt by the boys, beside the reg- 
ular school-lessons — and by the girls, knitting and spinning. 
Some of the mechanical work was excellently done by the 
lads. The monitorial system is adopted in the classes, and 
little semi-circular iron rods are fastened before the walls, 
around which the class stands, the monitor being within. 

Without being able to speak from much examination, the 
teaching left an impression on my mind of not being of the 
best quality. Still, the first thing with a class of this kind. 



Charities. 203 

is to elevate the morals and affections — not to sharpen the 
intellect. 

The managers had employed the plan so successfully 
carried out in New- York, of sending the children away, to 
be placed in reliable and religious families, rather than keep 
them in an asylum. They had not, however, connected with 
it the method of constant communication with these chil- 
dren thus sent out, as has been done at home, with such 
excellent results. 

The Poor-House seemed a better managed institution 
than such are usually with us. The buildings were of the 
best quality, and the arrangements for ventilation and 
warmth very practical. The principal work was mangling, 
which the inmates do for the public. 

The Chalmerska Skolan is a higher class of school, being 
a kind of polytechnique school for laborers and mechanics. 
Here drawing and modelling are taught, and various natural 
sciences. There are laboratories, and well-furnished rooms 
of philosophical instruments, connected with it, together 
with a reading-room. The whole is free for working men ! 
An institution so enlightened, neither New- York nor Boston 
yet have. 

I visited another school, principally for teaching drawing 
and designing, intended for the same class. The public 
schools are usually of a high class. There is here, also, a 
Normal School, for the instruction of teachers. 



204: The Noese-Folk. 



THE CITY. 

GoTTENBURG Icaves a pleasant impression on one. There 
are many handsome, busy streets in it, and the country sur- 
rounding is picturesque. The river, the Gota, is thronged 
on its banks and on the water with trade, and the town 
has stretched far beyond its old limits. 

The story of its foundation is, that the king, Gustavus II. 
Adolphus (in 1618), on a visit to the neighborhood to 
determine the situation of the new city, stood on the top 
of the mountain, Gtterhallan, surrounded by his counsellors 
and generals, when a small bird, chased by an eagle, flew 
to the feet of the king, and there sought refuge. This 
seemed to the king a sign from Heaven, and he at once 
resolved that the new town should be laid out at the foot of 
the mountain. In the words of a friend, "Future has proved 
that the king was in the right, and trade has often, in the 
safe and always open harbor of Gotheborg, found a refuge 
against its enemies and oppressors." 

The first inhabitants were mostly Dutch merchants, called 
into the country by the king. The city still retains the 
memory of them, in the appearance of the town — especially 
in the canal-intersected streets, once shaded by trees. 

Gottenburg rose very slowly to its present rank. The 
first great impulse to its growth was given in the latter 
part of the last century, by an enormous herring-fishery, 
which was carried on, on the west coast of Sweden, for 
about forty years. Great riches were accumulated by it ; 



Rise of the City. 205 

but suddenly, in 1812, the fish left the coast from unknown 
causes, and have never returned. 

During the years from 1810 to 1815, the wars of Napo- 
leon and the Continental System brought in a rich harvest 
to Gottenburg. All the trade of Northern Europe then 
passed through this city, as it was the only open port, 
through which the manufactured goods of England could 
be imported into Russia and North Germany. The harbor 
could not receive all the ships that entered, the goods 
were stored in the open street; and wealth increased im- 
mensely. 

With the fall of Napoleon, the city again retook its 
former position. The only lasting advantage which re- 
mained from these prosperous days, was the handsome style 
in which the town was rebuilt, and the splendid houses 
erected by the merchants for their residence. Property 
fell so much, that many of these buildings could not sell 
again for half their value. 

In 1832, a work was concluded which has steadily raised 
Gottenburg to its present position — the opening of the Gotha 
Canal, "that splendid and immortal work of a poor Na- 
tion," as a Swedish friend calls it. By this canal, through 
which vessels can pass Sweden from the North Sea to the 
Baltic without paying the heavy Danish Sound-dues, Got- 
tenburg became the new centre of the imports to Sweden, 
and at the same time, the great commercial entrepot for 
the exports of the rich central provinces of Sweden. The 
town now commands the largest inland navigation of any 
town in the country, and it is believed, that when the rail- 



206 The IsTokse-Folk. 

way, now being opened between Stockholm and G-ottenburg, 
is finished, the advantages to its trade will be scarcely less 
than from the canal. 

For the last ten years, the business of the city has been 
continually increasing ; and the Swedes claim that next 
to Marseilles, Dantzic, and Constantinople, Gottenburg has 
made the greatest progress in that time of any of the trad- 
ing cities of Europe. 

Within the same time, the city has been lighted by gas, 
the streets paved with cut-stones, sidewalks laid with sand- 
stone, all the quays rebuilt with hewn stones, a large hos- 
pital has been erected, and an extensive Work-house for 
the poor ; and last year a plan for a harbor was drawn 
up and immediately adopted, at the estimated cost of seven 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, embracing in its features 
the furnishing the banks of the river, for nearly two mUes, 
with granite quays. 

The last three years have been equally fortunate for 
Gottenburg, with the rest of Sweden. The war of the 
neighboring powers, the improved agriculture, and the more 
enlightened commercial policy of Sweden, have all con- 
tributed to swell immensely the business of the country. 
Ten years ago, the export of grain was almost unknown, 
from Sweden. In 1855, Sweden exported nearly two mil- 
lions of barrels of grain, amounting in value to more than 
the whole of the iron exports. Gottenburg and its imme- 
diate connections on the western coast, partook in this to 
the amount of five hundred and sixty-nine thousand two 
hundred and forty-four barrels ; of these, three hundred and 



Exports. 207 

eighty-seven thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two barrels 
were of oats, which went almost all to England — making 
nearly otie third of the whole exports of oats into England 
from all countries for that year. The greatest part of the 
rye exported goes to Holland.* 

The whole impression left on my mind by these facts, 
and my own observations of G-ottenburg, was that it con- 
tained a very enlightened and public-spirited population, 
much superior, as I afterwards discovered, to the mercantile 
people of any other city of Sweden. 

* For these statistics, and much of the information about Gotten- 
burg, I am indebted to a very intelligent gentleman, well known 
in the mercantile world, Mr. Olof Wyk. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



COTTON SPINNERS IN SWEDEN. 



The gentleman whom I was visiting, kindly offered me 
the use of his pleasant travelling carriage, to post out to a 
very retired and unknown district some fifty miles distant, 
where we could see something of the home manufacturing 
of Sweden. He said, beside, we should meet a class of 
people which were quite peculiar to Sweden — the ancient 
peasantry or Bonders, changing into rich manufacturers. I 
was, of course, very glad of the opportunity. The kindness 
and courtesy of the offer corresponded to what met me from 
the beginning to the end of my journey in Sweden. 

We started out on a fresh August morning, over a rocky 
country, with occasional pine or beech woods, and cleared 
fields, where oats, or barley, or potatoes were growing, 
being much such a district as one would pass over in New 
England — ^many streams and lakes near the roadside, and 
woods covering the hills in the distance. Now and then a 
white church tower, with its black conical top, crowning 
some summit in the distance. The country seemed poor, 
and not much populated : sometimes we passed long 
stretches without seeing a house. As in Norway, there 

208 



Swedish Posting. 209 

were lao villages, but large farms, where a number of peo- 
ple lived together. The houses had not the peculiar Nor- 
wegian character of brown, neatly laid logs, but were red 
or yellow frame-buildings, not different from our American 
farm-houses. The post-stations seemed the important places 
on the road, and had evidently the best fields and buildings 
about them. 

Posting in Sweden is not at all so easy a matter as in 
Norway, unless Forbud (orders for horses) are sent on 
before. The people now have great need for their horses 
in the farm-work. At the second station we waited two 
hours, while they sent to the peasant whose turn it was to 
furnish horses. Probably he was obhged to take them from 
haying in the middle of the work, to have them beaten and 
worked for the next course (six miles), as only post-horses 
are worked. For all this, he gets from the traveller, for 
both horses, one dollar banco — or forty cents. It is a 
burdensome and stupid system, which ought long ago to 
have been changed in a country where horse and man are 
of any value. Near this station we came on the first evi- 
dence of the manufactures we were approaching : a long 
train of little one-horse carts, each with his bale, or bale 
and a half of cotton, driving laboriously on to the spinners 
and factories. This alone would show the difiiculty of manu- 
facture in such an out-of-the-way spot. The freight from the 
sea is several dollars on each bale. 

As we had no introductions to any one, and but few 
knew much of the district, we were obliged to inquire from 
station to station. They all said the same — that these new 



210 The IS'oese-Folk. 

cotton lords, though peasants, were very rich and would 
welcome strangers gladly. 

At length we came to one of the best-looking farming 
establishments on the road, with the side to the highway 
open. Everything was extremely clean and comfortable in 
appearance ; no dirt or carts or pigs about the court-yard ; 
but large barns and stables, as if all was stored and housed 
properly. The best of the dwelling-houses was shaded with 
cool, green beeches and lindens. We went at once to the 
door, and a bluff ruddy man, dressed like a farmer, met us. 
My friend introduced me as an American, and said that we 
desired to see something of his manufacturing. He replied 
very cordially, and invited us in. Sherry and port, with 
cigars, were brought in at his order, by a maid. He asked 
some questions about America — then rose, poured out the 
glasses, and we rose, sipped and bowed to each other. He 

• T 

said that unluckily he himself could only show us his stock, 
for the work was done by families in the neighborhood and 
by his factory at some little distance. 

I inquired about the mode and amount of his manufac- 
turing. 

He said he supplied the spinners in the families with the 
cotton, and the weavers with the yarn, which they made up 
for him, getting so much a piece. He also had a share in a 
cotton-spinning factory. He kept employed about 1,500 
spindles in fifteen different counties, and some 1,200 looms 
in families. 

The cotton he imported amounted to nearly 2,000 bales 
a year; the wages paid out by him were some |3,000 a month. 



A Country Shop. 211 

The weavers (women) could earn about thirty-six cents a 
day, which was about the same as the wages of a farm 
laborer. 

We went out to look at his stock. The " shop" was one 
of the dwelling-houses of the square, and here the country 
people came to purchase of him. The different packages of 
calicoes were in piles in the bed-rooms of the house^ — mostly 
patterns of bright colors for peasants' dresses or 'kerchiefs ; 
some very neatly colored, and nearly all stamped with the 
hand. A few he had stamped and colored in a neighboring 
factory. He always sold, he said, at twelve months' credit. 
The handkerchiefs were six cents to eight cents an ell (two- 
thirds of a yard) ; common calicoes, five cents ; cloths, 
twelve cents. For the weaving of these, he paid two cents 
an ell. 

After spending some time here, we went, at my request, 
to his farm buildings. The barns have not the Norwegian 
improvement of an entry on the second story, but are like 
the old-fasliioned barns with us. The stables were very 
neatly kept. He had eight or ten horses, some of good 
blood evidently, valued, he said, at from seventy-five dollars 
to two hundred and fifty dollars. The grain in his grana- 
ries was mostly rye and barley. He has a separate brew- 
house and bake-house. The farm implements were more 
like our own than I have found in Norwegian husbandry. 
The only machinery I saw, was a large threshing-machine 
turned by horses. All that he raises is consumed by his 
own family. 

At about nine, we were called in to supper. At first, we 



212 The Norse-Folk. 

all eat, standing, smorhordet or a little bread and cheese and 
ancliovies — the others taking a small glass of corn-whisky 
along with this. Then each with folded hands stands a 
moment for a silent grace, which is closed with a kind of 
obeisance — and we sit down. 

The first course was perch, handed by a neatly dressed 
maid to each ; then pieces of stewed hare, served in the 
same way ; then ' a very delicious cake, eaten with sauce 
(munkar). No tea was on the table, but beer and port and 
sherry. The only thing characteristic of our host's position, 
was his working dress, and the fact that his wife did not 
come to table. At the close, we rose and shook hands 
with our host, thanking him for the meal. 

At a good hour, we were shown into a handsome bed- 
room ; the maid took our boots and clothes to brush, and 
we laid ourselves each in little feather-beds, soon to be 
dreaming of places far away. 

August . — Coffee was brought to the adjoining 

room at a comfortably late hour the next morning. This 
apartment is the salon — the ball-room of the house, with 
some very handsome pieces of furniture, white secretaries, 
painted and gilded, and a clock about seven feet high, 
white, with gilded edging. There are some pretty little 
tables, but no curtains, and the floor is of plain boards. 
At nine o'clock we met in the room below stairs, for break- 
fast. This room, again, had some very rich articles of 
furniture of polished birch and another huge clock ; handsome 
silver plate was on the table. The floor was uncarpeted, 
with little spittoons here and there filled with pine twigs, 



The Patron. • 213 

for the Scandinavian habit ; and in each corner of the room 
was a plain wooden bench, like those in ale-houses. 

Our host is a jovial fellow, and gives us a hearty greet- 
ing. We again take of the bread and butter and salt meat, 
as a prelude, declining the usual glass of port ; the same 
silent grace again, and we fall to work. The Patron (as 
they call him) asks questions of America ; says he gets 
his cotton direct from Mobile and New Orleans, through 
agents in Gottenburg, but has to pay heavily for freight 
from the port to this place. He thinks the Americans 
a most clever people ; but he says — the old theme — " How 
can such a nation as you are endure Slavery ? I am sure 
you will j&nally abolish it." We ask whether the tendency 
of Sweden to Free Trade will injure his business. He 
thinks not ; says the English cannot make coarse goods 
cheaper than the Swedes, and they never will have goods 
of enough different colors to suit the people here ; " they 
cannot, except by hand-work. In fine muslins," he says, 
" they are far ahead of us, and will be." 

As one of the landed proprietors, or squires of the coun- 
try, we ask him about the schools. He does not know 
a great deal about the matter, but thinks the people used 
to be well enough before the new School Law, and he 
considers the one '^ established school" for the parish as 
not practicable. He prefers instead some " circulating 
schools," which shall go from house to house. They were 
taxed very heavily already, he said, and they did not like 
the burden of the school. I tried to give him an impulse 
in relating what we were willing to be taxed in America 



214 The Noese-Folk. 

for education ; but it made no especial impression on him. 
He thought the pastor ought to attend to it ! It appeared 
that the pastor was an old man with a good farm, and 
two or three assistants (Comministrar), and did not trouble 
himself much about such modern matters. 

In giving the sketch of our conversation, it is difficult 
to convey the tone of indifference aud lack of interest 
this man — one of the great peasant aristocrats — had in the 
whole subject, and yet he himself was a ''self-made" man ; 
by his own cleverness and perseverance he had erected a 
very considerable manufacturing business and won himself 
wealth. A vigorous, shrewd man — one of that class who 
will yet raise Sweden to modern enterprise and activity. 

I should not forget our breakfast, which was most hos- 
pitably and properly served, with napkins, wines, fish, and 
various dishes in course ; with no tea or coffee. The wife, 
evidently a peasant, but impressing us as a very dignified 
and intelligent woman, did not come to table. The jpatron 
was much like a central New York or Pennsylvania farmer 
of little school education, and great education in the world 
We asked him once about politics. He shrugged his 
shoulders, and said he had nothing to do with them. One 

peasant manufacturer in R , was always sent as member 

to the Parliament, and no one ever opposed him. The 
crown and clergy, I understood him, had it all their own 
way in the representation of the yeomanry. He had the 
right to vote as a member of this class for his House of 
Parliament. We bid adieu to him finally, truly grateful 
for his hospitality, and very much interested in our visit. 



Home-Weavebs. 215 



HAND-WEAVERS. 

He directed us to some of his manufacturing hands, who 
lived at a little distance. The houses were pretty little 
log-cottages, among flower-beds and potato-patches, each 
having, perhaps, two rooms. In the first, there was an 
arched room with several windows — everything clean and 
whitewashed within, even the fire-place. Four women, with 
ruddy, cheerful faces, were at work at hand-looms ; one 
was quite young. They were weaving common handker- 
chiefs and shawls of bright colors. Everything looked 
comfortable and happy in the place. There were curtains 
at the windows perfectly white, and flowers. The women 
all wore silver brooches. They were paid by the master 
by the piece, earning from twenty cents to twenty-seven 
cents a day ; the youngest, a mere girl, only twelve cents 
— not poor wages in a country where a carpenter frequently 
only gets thirty cents a day. One thing characteristic of 
Swedish peasant life, was the several beds for both sexes 
in the room — here, as usual, in wooden bunks built into the 
wall, and in one instance, covered with curtains. 

The girls talked to us very pleasantly and modestly. As 
we went out, we marked the pretty pointed, almost Gothic, 
doorway, of unpainted wood, built on the house. The im- 
pression, as we re-called it, was very agreeable of peasant 
home manufacturing. We compared their cheerful, healthy 
faces, with the worn faces of English "factories," and the 
aspect of a certain position and dignity in them with the 



216 The Noese-Folk. 

usual expression of depressed toil in working women, with 
much commendation of " home labor." 

In the next cottage, they were weaving plain white 
cotton cloths, all the arrangements being similar, and the 
girls with the same robust, pleasant looks. One very old 
man was spinning the yarn on little reels. We talked with 
them; they expressed no discontent, but seemed very happy 
in their work. My friend says they can all read and write, 
as indeed every one must who would be confirmed in the 
Lutheran church. On the Sundays, he says, you wiU see 
them splendidly attired, sometimes with very valuable silver 
ornaments, handed down from their forefathers. 

We rode on for some distance through pretty cross-roads, 
among hills and woods, to visit the factories beyond. I 
have been told this is a very populous part of Sweden. 
If so, we are away from the inhabited districts. We sel- 
dom pass a house, and never a village. The farms, too, 
are poor, and the soil thin. Many streams flow across the 
road, and like our New England, it is evidently a country 
best adapted for manufacture — and what capacities the soil 
had for agriculture have been neglected for this newer labor. 
The crops are oats, barley, rye, potatoes, and grass. We 
saw no orchards. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SWEDISH H ME -M A N U F A CTURE S. 

The first factory to which we were dkected, after 
visiting the. weavers, was built, I think, in 1853. The 
building is of stone, but the surrounding boarding-houses of 
wood. The clerk introduced us into his sitting-room, and 
wine and cigars were of course produced. We begged off, 
finally, and drank his health in pure water. Fortunately he 
spoke English, and, I found, had several English foremen 
and workmen. The factory is for spinning yarn. There are 
200 hands employed, and 16,000 spindles. The capital was 
originally about $150,000 ; some |ltO,000 has been laid out 
on it, thus far, with very good return. One of the English- 
men accompanied us over the works. Most of the hands 
were women, though many children were at the spindles, 
seemingly working very skillfully — some must have been as 
young as seven or eight years. Generally, their faces 
looked pale and not healthy. 

The foreman pointed out to us child after child who had 
been beggars on the highway, and were now industrious 
workers in the establishment. Each one has to attend 
school a certain number of hours every day, he said ; and, 

10 2ir 



218 The N ok s e -F olk . 

according to Swedish law, every factory employing children 
must sustain a school. I asked him about the capacity of 
the Swedes for machinery. " They have a great capability, 
sir, for the spindles ; they are such a patient set, you know. 
But the women, sir, there's the rub 1 They were never 
accustomed to such close work. Always at 'ome, they've 
been in the 'abit of talkin' and chattin,' you know, as they 
work, and I find it very 'ard to keep 'em hattentive and con- 
sideratesome. And they are so tricky. Why, two Swedish 
women can't possibly meet without a little dance, just to- 
gether, which won't do you know here, sir. But they'll 
learn. It's a young nation, sir ; very young. Everything 
is young here — even the craggy rocks ; they are all primary, 
you know ! It will take time — time, sir, before they do as 
the English and Americans." 

I inquired as to the morality generally of the factory. 

"It is good, sir — good ! And there's been a great pro- 
gressive movement in the last two years. Of Course, it isn't 
like England. You know how it is with the women — they 
don't look hon some things as we do. I believe they really 
think it a credit to be found in a family-way, nobody knows 
how. Then they all sleep so, men and women in one room, 
and they don't seem to think anything of it. They don't care 
for some things which an English woman never could put hup 
with. But I believe we don't 'ave more than one or two ille- 
gitimates every year — which is very good, you know, here." 

" How is it with the drinking ?" I inquired. 

"It is not so bad now. There's been a great reform in 
that, too. When I first came here, a gallon of finkel used 



English Foreman. 219 

to be about nine pence, and now it costs three or four 
shillings. Government has laid such a duty on the stilling 
of it, and it's so hard to get it. Of course, some days they 
wiir 'ave a ' burst,' but it isn't often." 

The women, he says, earn by piece-work about $1,50 to 
$1,15 a week ; men, from $1,50 to $3,50 ; and the chil- 
dren from 10 cents to 24 cents a day. 

The freight from Gottenburg, or from Warberg, by the 
peasant's carts, is alone five or six dollars, ($1,35 to $1,62) 
for every bale. When the railroad to Boras is done, they 
will be quite near the great means of communication. The 
machinery is all Manchester work. 

We visited the school. There were fifty-three scholars in 
it, with a rather stupid-looking old man as teacher. All the 
children were bawling out their catechism together, evi- 
dently with no more idea what the sacred words meant than 
if they had been Indian incantations. And this is what the 
Swedes everywhere call " teaching religion." 

As we went out, the Englishman said : " You see it 
haint here just as it is in our countries. They don't know 
much about all that ; but they have to be confirmed, helse 
they couldn't be citizens or anything else, and they goes 
into the sacrament as a sort of business, you know. Perhaps 
some of 'em really feels it, poor creatures I — but I don't 
think the most of 'em cares or knows much about it. They 
leaves it to the parsons." 

We again drove on through a rather picturesque country, 
with no especial cultivation, as yet, and sparsely peopled, to 



220 The I^orse-Folk. 

some new factories. The first one. at W , was a great 

stone building, in the style of our best factories at Lowell 
or Lawrence. It was not quite finished, though the machi- 
nery (all from England) was already there. It was to have 
six hundred workmen, with about one thousand looms — 
mostly, I believe, for colored cottons, worked, as are all by 
v/ater-power. This mill, with those we visited afterwards, 
are owned by one peasant — Sven Erickson — who has raised 
himself by his skill to be one of the richest manufacturers 
His next mill, a few miles farther on, for vf eaving and dying 
cottons, sheeting, wool, cloths, etc., was at Rydboholm. 
The number of hands employed is 450 ; looms, 282. Pro- 
duce, annual, $800,000. 

This factory had a number of buildings for dyeing, drying, 
etc., as well as for the homes of the workmen. The office 
was a hona fide store for goods, not a dwelling-house. Mr. 
E.'s house was near by, looking very neat and comfortable. 
He has built, we understand, a church, and sustains a school 
for his operatives. The wages of women here 'are about 
twenty-four cents a day ; men, $1 00. A number of Eng- 
lishmen are employed about the works. 

As we stood waiting, several carrioles drove up, which 
were supplied with horses, and then, after the gentlemen 
had conferred a little with the people within, drove on. 
These are the buyers, we hear, who are very handsomely 
entertained and forwarded from one factory to another, free 
of expense. 

After leaving this factory, we entered on a much more 



Peasant Manufacturers. 221 

cultivated and rich-looking country — ^a broad valley, with 
very nice and roomy farm-houses on the hill-sides, one 
farm having sometimes six or eight houses, and fields show- 
ing a far better culture. The houses were usually of wood, 
two or three stories, painted some pleasant modest color, 
with French windows. Many have large stables, and hand- 
some travelling-carriages in the yards. This is the especial 
district of the rich peasant manufacturers — ^men as proud and 
independent as any in the land, but not yet having lost all the 
peculiarities of their class. They form a kind of turning- 
point between the ancient and the modern world. 

I was interested to see near some of the houses on the 
edge of the river, bathing-houses, in modern style. 

We drove to one of the handsomest houses, entered and 
said to the gentleman, we would like to look at his goods. 
Here, again, as in the other houses, they were piled in bed- 
rooms and sitting-rooms — colored shawls, handkerchiefs, cot- 
tons for dresses, etc., etc. The people worked for their 
master in their own cottages, and brought it to him ; here 
he sold, also, to the peasants, always at twelve months 
credit, charging two per cent, a month. The prices were 
very low. 

The manufacturer himself, in this case, was much more 
peasant-like than any we had seen, having a low, animal 
face. 

From this we drove to the parsonage, a comfortable 
three-story house on a hill, amid gardens and trees, and 
introduced ourselves. The parson insisted we should take 
supper with him, and then was equally urgent for us to 



222 THElSrOKSE-FoLK. 

spend the night. We resisted long, but the refusal seemed 
so to injure his hospitable feelings, that at length we gave 
way, and carriage, servant and all, spent the night there. 



THE PARSONAGE AND SQUIRE. 

Our host was not the chief clergyman, but a vicar or 
assistant {comminister) . His house looked very neat and 
comfortable, with marks of sufficient means about it. He 
himself impressed one as a mild, amiable gentleman. I told 
him soon that one of my especial objects was to investigate 
the schools of Sweden, and inquired about those in his par- 
ish. I had touched evidently on a sore topic. He uttered 
sadly his grievances. Since the new regulation of the min- 
istry, establishing a school in every parish, the former circu- 
lating schools had been given up, and now the peasants live 
so far from this school — some four or five miles — that the 
children did not attend regularly. Besides, breaking up the 
old system separated the children from the parents very 
much. Before, the teacher of the circulating school would 
be aided often by the parents, and they felt a personal 
responsibility in the improvement of the children. Now, it 
is all in the hands of the teacher, and he is not fully compe- 
tent. He has been a year at the Normal School at Gotten- 
burg, but that was not enough to improve him ; and in mat- 
ters of religion, especially, he could not teach the children 
properly. 

I suggested whether it would not be a better arrangement 



School-Troubles. 223 

to take the whole matter of religion out of the hands of the 
teacher, and leave it in his (the pastor's) hands. " Yes," he 
answered, " it would be ; but if they can have a foundation 
laid of the knowledge of the first principles, it would assist 
me very much in afterward instructing them for the confir- 
mation." My friend suggested that two schools, one circu- 
lating and one established, might meet the difficulty regard- 
ing the distance, etc. Mr. L. admitted that they would, but 
doubted if the people would be willing to pay the tax. 
There was much opposition already to paying so heavily for 
schools. 

We mentioned then Count Rudenskold's plan — which 
has already been tried — of having little infant schools 
taught in the houses by some old woman or intelligent girl 
at a small price, and making these the preparation for the 
" established school," so that the parents might have some 
share in the education, and the difficulties of expense and 
distance be avoided. He thought such a plan might suc- 
ceed. We asked whether this teaching of Religion, as a 
school study, did not make children think it was merely a 
lesson and not a matter of life. He allowed it often did ; 
but still they ought to know the facts, he said, and they 
require it for Confirmation. 

Of the morality of the people — the factory workmen, and 
the weavers — he gave very nearly such an account as we 
had heard before, along the journey — that the people, 
though needing much improvement, were better than the 
mass of the same classes elsewhere in Sweden. 

Certainly, statistics begin to show that not manufacture 



224 The JSToRSE- Folk. 

but agriculture draws after it the lowest state of morals ; 
that is, where manufacture really is a means of living, and 
not a means of crushing the poor and weak. 

The Temperance Societies, he thought, had mostly failed. 
The people only signed to break, but the consumption of 
brandy had immensely diminished, especially owing to the 
restrictions placed upon it by government. His parish, he 
informed us, numbered between four and five thousand, and 
had four clergymen and five schools. 

We sat down, at 9 o'clock, to a very simple, good supper, 
with milk instead of the almost universal accompaniment, 
wine ; and after the silent grace at the close, and shaking 
hands, we were showed to comfortable beds in an upper 
room. 

From this point our ride was through a much better 
country, with well-kept fields of wheat and rye and oats. 
The farm-houses were of two or three stories, well painted, 
and with nice windows, and had all spacious guest-houses, 
and bakeries, and stables. Here dwell the rich, aristocratic 
peasant manufacturers of Sweden — a class not yet raised 
out of its ancient position, but, with wealth and enterprise, 
certain soon to be thoroughly modernized. The clergyman 
accompanied us to one of the oldest of these manufacturers 
and squires, now retired from active business. His parents, 
we understood, had been so opposed in the beginning to the 
manufacturing in Sweden, that they had made it a boast 
never '' to have worn in their lives a thread of cotton P' 

The farm was the usual square of houses, painted red, 



The Squire. 225 

and we entered the principal dwelling from the court-yard 
within. The peasant-proprietor met us at the doorway. 
He is a tall, dignified man, with small finely-cut features, 
hair parted in the middle, and an expression of much intelli- 
gence and character on his face. His coat was of the 
national costume, black, reaching to the ankles ; he wore 
breeches, a close-buttoning black waistcoat and black neck- 
erchief without collar. His wife, a very hearty, lively 
woman, had the usual colored bodice. We were shown 
into a large saloon, unoccupied, with plain benches in the 
corner, and the usual large white gilt clock ; from this into 
another smaller room, not differing from any modern parlor, 
with handsome sofa, centre-table, and French lamps. 

The talk at first was on the weather and persons of the 
neighborhood. The only thing characteristic was a remark 
of the wife that " Fru X. had gone to Dr. D.'s for her 
bilious attack, to try the GymnobstikP I asked what the 
cure was. She explained that it was the taking small doses, 
instead of large ones. My friend said, " Oh ! you mean 
Homoeopathy." '^ Yes," she answered, " I knew it was one 
of those new cures ; I have been recommended the Gymnas- 
tikP It appears, this practice of medical gymnastics is 
as regular and profitable a one in Sweden as Homoeo- 
pathy is with us. It consists of a scientifically arranged 
series of muscular movements and exercises, which is said 
to be of immense benefit to women, especially in nervous 
disorders. ' 

Of course, wine was ordered to welcome us, but we 

declined, and some fruit and milk were brought out to an 

10* 



226 The Norse -Folk. 

arbor in the garden. There the peasant read to us a peti- 
tion that he and others were preparing to lay before the 
king on the subject of schools. As the pastor had told us, 
the present arrangement did not answer well. These rich 
peasants wanted several circulating schools to be started in 
the parish, and supported from public tax. 

The clergyman, as I understood it, was somewhat against 
this, still he did not wish to displease his wealthy parishioners, 
considering the plan too expensive. On a recent meeting of 
the Common Council (socken stdmma) of the village, it hap- 
' pened that those in favor of the additional schools were not 
present; and though it had been previously voted that there 
should be more schools at the public cost, the present meet- 
ing re-considered the question and carried the other motion, 
and sent the resolution to the government. This petition 
was to state the facts, and request an interference of the 
Ministry in favor of the more liberal measure. My friend 
said it was a very well-written document. 

After much conversation the peasant took us to see his 
stock of goods. They were in one of the houses of the 
square, and stored in very handsome rooms — in quality 
mostly like those we had before seen. He had not a very 
large stock, as he was nearly out of the business, and occu- 
pied himself with his farm. The peasants who made them, 
brought them to him, and he bought on twelve months' 
credit — making a discount of fifteen or twenty per cent, if 
he paid cash. 

Before we took leave, he insisted on a drinking of healths, 
and the servant brought in hock, claret, and champagne. 



Swedish Yankees. 227 

Through the whole, there was a singular mingling of the 
modern customs of the rich, and the old habits of the peasant. 

He impressed me, in the whole visit, as a wise, dignified 
man, who was a gentleman by nature in whatever peasant's 
clothes. Such men will eventually raise their class— wealth 
and wealthy habits will bring with them the intelligent 
wants of riches. Their children must have education. 
(The son of the house, in this instance, was at the Gotten- 
burg Commercial Institute.) They will be superior — at 
least in culture — to their fathers ; and in a generation or 
two, will make a class not essentially different from our 
IS'ew-England countrymen — the Yankees of Sweden. 

This county (Elfsborg), with a population of 246,000, 
sold the following home-made stuffs in the following years : 

In 1846. In 1849. 

Cotton Stuffs Eng. yds., 4,458,300 5,828,259 

Linen " 317,800 299,990 

Woollen " 392,080 419,998 

Shawls and Blankets Pieces, 1,502,956 1,393,212 

In Gefleborg, amount sold in 1849 1,458,666 Yards. 

Western orrland 200,600 " 

Halland 257,650 " 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE GOTHA CANAL AND STOCKHOLM. 

This grand work of mechanical science and business- 
enterprise is well known through innumerable descriptions. 
Making use of the natural communications of lakes and 
rivers, and cutting through the solid rock in its way, it 
has thrown open a great inland route of navigation, through 
the richest parts of Sweden. 

The beauty of scenery in its course, it seems to me, has 
been much exaggerated. It is a pleasant pastoral land- 
scape usually, and at TroUhattan, truly picturesque ; but to 
one coming from Norway, nothing more. As a voyage of 
pleasure, it is detestable. I have, in earlier travels, been 
thoroughly inured to rough conveyances, and all sorts of fare; 
but I never experienced anything so thoroughly disagree- 
able as the accommodations of Gotha canal-boats. I had 
applied a week beforehand for a state-room, but was told 
they had all been engaged for months, and so was obliged 
to take a place in the general cabin. We were packed there 
as they might have been in the Black Hole ; on tables, under 
tables, ''on chairs, on seats, in hammocks, on shelves — in 
every assignable square inch of space that the little room 

228 



A Black Hole. 229 

could furnish — one woman waiting on the whole company, 
and managing to steer around among the sleepers. 

I saw an English nobleman packed on a settee, and 
his servant sleeping by his side. In this imprisonment we 
spent three days and two nights ; here we ate our meals, 
and shivered away the days, when the cold storm blew 
over the deck. Of course, feeble old gentlemen were de- 
termined that the windows should not be opened, and the 
state of air in our cell may be feebly imagined. 

What a relief it was, when a bright Sunday morning 
we got our first glimpse of the beautiful ''Venice of the 
North" (as the guide-books call it), Stockholm, scattered 
about on its islands, with picturesque church-towers and 
massive buildings, and innumerable boats plying to and fro, 
to supply its pleasures and wants. 

I had been warned of the hotels in Stockholm, and I 
went at once to a handsome lodging-house in Drottning's 
gatan well-recommended. I obtained two nice rooms for 
about two dollars and fifty cents a week ; and in half an 
hour felt myself comfortably settled. 

■mi^ t^ ^^ ^^ ^t^ 

*^ f* *l* ^^ ^» 

Stockholm is a delightful city. The variety of aspect, 
the gay water, and the busy cheerful streets ; the bridges, 
and gardens and quays, the monuments and grand buildings 
make a wonderfully pleasant impression. 

You move about much in boats, and, if on the outskirts, 
amid most picturesque bits of scenery. The finest Park — 
in advantages of Nature — of all Europe is here. A great 
reach of woods, and hills, and rop^s, with almost natural 



230 The Norse-Folk. 

rambling paths, the sea skirting both sides — old, moss-grown, 
still, and secluded ; such a place for pleasant strolling walks 
as is not, except in our own forests. 

Then on another side of the city are beautiful groves and 
rambles, towards the ancient Church of Solna. 

OF THE ORIGINALE AND SITUATION OF THIS KINGLY CITY. 

{From Olaus Magnus.) 

" This chief city of the Swedes and kingly place, Stockholm, was 
built from the foundation by a most illustrious and famous man, who 
was the king's tutor, whose name was Birger Jarl, and he fortified 
it with walls and other buildings in so fit, necessary, and invincible 
a place, that it is supposed that he could never have done anything 
more commodiously ; for it is a place that is on all sides fortified 
with Torrents (and was formerly only for fishermen's use), and is 
so placed, between fresh and salt water, that it may be called the 
port of all Sweden. For formerly the Estones, Muscovites, Eussians, 
Tavesthi, did constantly pass through the mouth thereof, and plun- 
dered the Swedes privately, who suspected no hostility, and destroy- 
ing great multitudes of men, they freely and unpunished, loaded with 
great booties, returned to their own countries. In which incursion 
they slew John, the second Archbishop of Upsal in his own mansion- 
house, Alme-Steck, and some other noblemen. But when this Stock- 
holm was built, all and every man enjoyed a long peace, and the 
enemies were in continual fear, who finding such a strong garrison 
raised for the time to come against all enemies, forbore to plunder 
Sweden any farther. If any man shall presume to beleaguer this 
Stockholm, and think to take it, he can never win it ; though he 
should continue resolute in the siege thereof every way. For it is 
situate in the most deep waters and most swift rivers, having only 
two gates on the south and north parts, with long bridges between 
them, which gates and bridges cost the king of Denmark more 



Acquaintances. 231 

money in a siege that came to nothing, than ten of the greatest 
cities of his kingdom. Nor can it be besieged but by three most 
potent armies, divided into islands that are parted by firm land and 
water, yet those armies can never be secure from bowmen that will 
put them into fear. Let him try that will, and he shall find it worse." 

Though the hotels are so poor, the restaurantes of Stock- 
holm are agreeable. One celebrated establishment of this 
kind, is in the Great Park or Deer Garden, Djvrgarden. The 
manners of people, in families and in shops, strike one as very 
polite and agreeable. The city is not at all in its season — 
the most of the people of;.'rank, as well as the Court, being in the 
country. ^ They can hardly flee the city for its heat, as these 
August days have the sharpness of our November, and one 
needs constantly an overcoat. 

I spent most of my time while here in seeing sights, with 
which one is always bored and which one dare never omit. 
I made — what was much more to be valued — the acquaint- 
ance of some agreeable and intellectual men, not to be for- 
gotten. Among them Mr. Siljestrom, of whom I shall 
speak again ; Professor Retzius, the distinguished Professor 
of Anatomy — a man whom our Western orators would cer- 
tainly call *' a perfect steam-engine " — such vivacity and fire 
he has ; and Rector Svedbom, Editor of the Aftenhladet^ 
the principal Stockholm paper, a liberal daily. 

It will certainly not be out of place to express here my 
obligations to our Minister Resident at the Swedish Court, 
Hon. Feancis Schrceder — a gentleman who has made our 
country respected through Sweden, and who has used the 
facilities which his diplomatic character gave him, to furnish 



232 The N or s e -Fol k. 

our own country with a vast quantity of useful scientific 
information relative to Sweden. The truth is, our diplomates 
at every Court, ought to have it understood, that one of the 
principal objects of their foreign residence, is to transmit to 
the Department useful matters of information with reference 
to other countries. Thus, and thus only, would diplomacy 
be an endurable evil. 

Stockholm is a very gay place in the winter, but it does 
not seem especially expensive for housekeepers. Two or 
three hundred dollars would be a high rent, as almost every 
one lives in the flats of large houses. A good income for a 

lawyer or physician would be $1,500 or $2,000. Teachers 

* 

and Professors seldom get over $1,000. 

THE MUSEUMS. 

The most interesting museums to me were the Kraniolo- 
gical collection of Professor Retzius, and the " Collection of 
Antiquities." This last is vastly inferior to that at Copen- 
hagen — still very interesting. The best divisions of these 
remains are the Danish — the separating them according to 
their periods — thus making four ages : (1) the Age of Bone, 
(2) of Stone, (3) of Bronze, (4) of Iron. In the first, the 
weapons and implements being the rudest possible, of the 
bones of animals ; in the second a little higher, though pro- 
bably used by the same people, of flint-stones, or stones 
sharpened by rubbing. The arrow and spear-heads in this 
Age, are almost precisely the same with the flint arrow- 
heads used by the North American Indians. In the third 



A Finnish Gentleman. 233 

of Bronze, gold appears also in beautiful workmanship, and 
in connection also with the Age of Iron — sometimes in great 
abundance. It is remarkable, that the bronze swords — pro- 
bably belonging to the Keltic race — and those of iron, the 
weapons of the Teuton, all have smaller handles and are of 
lighter weight than similar weapons now. These and other 
indications have led antiquaries to believe that some of the 
former races inhabiting Sweden were of inferior physical 
power to the present. Of the ethnological conclusions to be 
derived from these remains, I shall have occasion to speak 
hereafter. 

August . — I met to-day a young gentleman from 

Finland. He had come over to make enquiries of Mr. Sil- 
jestrom, in regard to the improvements he had brought 
back from America in the School-system. 

He said, that the young Russian Emperor was beginning to 
be in favor of Popular Schools ; and some of those interested 
were trying now to find what had been done elsewhere. At 
present, they have nothing in Finland of value in Institu- 
tions of popular education. A progress, however, was 
beginning. It is well known, though this gentleman did not 
state it, that it is the policy of the Russian Government 
now to encourage the Finnish national spirit, in order to 
counterbalance any attachment towards their old masters 
or countrymen, the Swedes. For this object, the revival of 
the old Finnish literature, of such poems as the Kalewala 
and the Kantelitar, has met with great favor from the 
Russian authority. The great Finnish University, as is well 
known, has been removed from Abo to Helsingfors, where it 



234 The Norse Folk. 

can be more directly under Russian influence, and at present 
no Swedish is allowed in the language of instruction. This 
process of Russianizing goes very skillfully on, year by year. 
The nobles are enticed by honors to Russia ; the offices in 
Finland are filled by Russians, and the peasants made to 
forget as much as possible their old connection with Swe- 
den. From all accounts, these efforts are succeeding. The 
peasantry is becoming attached to the government. Russia 
has never kept, of course, her promises in regard to States 
Assemblies with local powers in Finland ; but she is now 
forced by the spirit of the age, to do something for popular 
education. 

This gentleman, like all the Finlanders I have met, was 
very guarded ; yet you could not help remarking a certain 
depressed or sad expression, both in his appearance and in 
the few words he said of political matters. 

My friends say this depressed feeling is generally true of 
the Finlanders. You instinctively know it is the shadow of 
despotism, 

I asked this gentleman about the feelings of the people 
during the late war.- He states that the cruelties and 
barbarities of the English upon the poor fishermen and 
lumbermen on the coast, quite changed the first favorable 
disposition towards the allies, and very much exasperated 
the peasantry. 

He had known the lieutenant who was engaged in the 
barbarous affair at Hango. He was young, he says, and 
was supposed to have acted thus, because he was confused 
and not really knowing what he was about. Though the 



The War. 235 

Government did not punish him, lie lost caste every where, 
and was disgraced. 

I found he had the usual impression, derived from the tone 
of a few of our papers, that we sympathized in America with 
the Russians. I was glad to correct and explain it. 

Many of the Swedes think the king made a great mistake, 
in not at once throwing the fortunes of the country, into the 
late war, with the Allies. They believe Finland, in the begin- 
ning might have been easily re-won, the old disgrace of 
Sweaborg wiped out, and a flank-march directed on St. 
Petersburg, which would have effectually weakened and 
humbled Russia for years to come. 

At first, the peasantry were entirely favorable ; the Rus- 
sian force in the country was a mere trifle (much less than was 
known by the allies), and with the assistance of the fleets, 
and an allied reinforcement, they might have carried every- 
thing before them, and removed the great thorn in their 
side — the Russian Finland. Others, on the contrary, and I 
think more wisely, believe such an attack would have in- 
volved Sweden in a long war, which she could not afford ; 
that even if she had re-conquered Finland, it would always, 
henceforth, have been a bone of contention between the two 
powers, and that the great hope for Sweden is in the devel- 
opment of her industrial and agricultural powers, and not 
in conquest. Generally in Sweden, there is a great con- 
tempt for Russia. A common phrase one hears, is that '^ one 
Swede is equal to three Russians at any time ;" and except 
for the great commercial profits of peace, nothing would 



236 The Noese-Folk. 

have been so popular as a decided part taken in the late 
war, by the government. 

All feel that the great danger eventually to the country, 
will be from the over-grasping power of the Northern 
Empire. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A SUNDAY IN STOCKHOLM. 

The Sunday seems more quietly spent than in Germany. 
The churches are well attended. I have been to-day to the 
Lutheran " High Mass." The forms are somewhat compli- 
cated. The officiating clergyman first, with his face to the 
people, repeats the '' Holy I Holy ! art Thou," etc. — then 
kneels and utters a prayer. The congregation do not kneel 
nor respond. He then rises, singing the ''God have mercy 
upon us !" and the congregation respond. The Prayer book, 
or " Hand book," requires responses when prayers are sung, 
but not when read. After this, he turns to the altar and 
sings the " Gloria in excdsis .'" this is followed by a long 
hymn* from the worshippers, from ten to twenty verses. 
The clergyman then turns to the congregation and says the 
'' Lord be with you I" they responding ; next, facing the 
altar, he reads the extract for the day (he sings it on feast- 
days.) Here he makes another prayer, which is succeeded by 
the reading of the Epistle, and the reading or singing of the 

* The composers of these hymns, so much beloved in Sweden, are 
Spegel, Swedberg, and Arrhenius, of more ancient times ; and Wallin, 
Franzen, Geyer, Hedborn and others of modern. 

237 



238 The :N" orse- F o lk. 

Creed. During the first part he faces the audience, during 
the latter, the altar. At the name of Jesus, all bow the 
head. Another hymn is sung, and the sermon follows, 
which was short. After this, prayer again, and, on feast- 
days, they tell me, the Litany ; and then the royal procla- 
mations, notices of marriage and of death, and the like. The 
last exercise is a prayer by the second clergyman at the 
altar, and then, after a few words, the beautiful blessing of 
Moses. The principal priest is dressed in a white "mass- 
shirt," trimmed with lace, over which is a rich red velvet 
Cope, with a gold cross embroidered on it. 

The communion service is characteristic. At the altar, 
the following prayer is made : — ^" Lord Jesus Christ, who in 
thy holy communion dost give us bread and wine, thy dear 
body and blood, grant unto those who intend to have part 
in it, thy holy Spirit, that they may worthily receive it, to 
strengthen their assurance of forgiveness of sins. 

" Grant grace, that they, with right-minded hearts may 
be reminded of thy bitter suffering and death, that they 
renew the promise which they have made in baptism, and 
with faithful determination to hereafter live, with thy help, 
in true faith, godliness, love, firm hope and Christian patience, 
and thus not to violate the vows made before thy holy face 
at the shrift J {skrift) that they with all the believers may 
be partakers of the great supper in Heaven. Amen." 

The priest puts the bread or wafer into the mouth of 
each communicant kneeling at the altar, saying to each, 
"Jesus Christ, whose body thou receivest, preserve thee 
unto everlasting life I Amen." 



Ch [JKCH-FOKMS. 239 

The last prayer is, " We thank thee, Father Almighty, 
who through thy Son, Jesus Christ, hast instituted this 
holy Supper for our peace and salvation, and we pray Thee 
grant us grace so to celebrate the remembrance of Jesus 
on earth, that we also may have share in the great Supper 
in Heaven. Amen." 

A custom still prevails in the Swedish Church, of restoring 
a criminal, or backslider, after public penance. The sub- 
ject, usually some man or woman from the prison, with 
worn, depressed expression, stands on a bench near the 
door, a guard by his side, and before the great congrega- 
tion is addressed by a stout comfortable-looking man in 
full canonicals, who has had from his cradle, perhaps, the 
whole current of life on his side and so has never openly 
sinned, on the enormity of his guilt, and after a brief con- 
fession to his fellow-mortal, receives his blessing and is 
restored ; or, if he refuses to confess, he is sent back to a 
more severe punishment. 

The Commandments have what we are wont to consider a 
Romanistic arrangement. The First is, '' Thou shalt have no 
other gods before me," with no allusion to the graven images. 
The Second is on Profanity. The Third, simply, " Remem- 
ber to keep the rest-day holy I" with no reasons, except 
those given in the Catechism : — -" We should fear and love 
God, so that we do not despise preaching and God's Word, 
but consider it holy, hear it gladly, and learn." Which cer- 
tainly, if the Festival of the Resurrection be borne in mind, 



240 The Noese-Folk. 

seems a much more Christian basis for the observance of 
the day. The Fourth is on the ''Love of Parents." The 
Tenth is divided into two, the Ninth and Tenth, as if dis- 
tinguishing the two kinds of coveting. 

There still survive on the Swedish Church Book, the 
rules for Secret Confession to the Pastor. It is still re- 
sorted to for the worst class of sins ; and the clergyman 
is forbidden under the strongest penalties to disclose what 
is confessed. Only in cases of treason, or where assassi- 
nation or murder is threatened, can the clergyman warn 
the objects, yet still without disclosing the names of the 
guilty parties. In former times, the pastor has been known 
to forbid the Sacrament after such confessions. 



RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

The Tract and Bible Society of Sweden appear both 
to be active. In 1852, the Foreign and the Native Bible 
Societies report as already distributed by them, more than 
a million copies of the Old and New Testaments. 

The Tract Society (founded in 1809), have scattered in 
thirty years nearly three millions of tracts. The " Swedish 
Mission Society" was establish in 1835, especially for Christ- 
ianizing the Lapps, among whom they have opened schools 
and churches. Their annual income is about thirty-seven 
thousand dollars. Many other societies have also been 
formed in the last few years — ^for Orphan Asylums, for 



Statistics. " 241 

Sunday Schools, Charity Schools, and the like. There is 
one Association of Deaconesses at Stockholm. 

The " Inner Mission," which has done so much in Ger- 
many, has met with no success here. Among the religious 
papers, are the " Mission Journal of Lund," with six thou- 
sand subscribers ; the "Bible Friend" (Bibelvannen), with 
nine thousand ; and the "People's School" (Folk-skolan), 
with two thousand. 

STATISTICAL FACTS OF STOCKHOLM. 

BIRTHS AND DEATHS. 

In 1849, births to population, as , , . 1 to 29 

" deaths, " " 1 to 25 

Sweden " birtlis, " " 1 to 30 

" " deaths, " " 1 to 60 

■ j, ... DEATHS EXCEEDING BIRTHS IN STOCKHOLM. 

Year 1849 , by STT 

" 1839... " '738 

" 1829. ...."1941 

^ ^"i 1819 "1146 

SUICIDES. 

In 1847 227 

' 1848 244 

" 1849 226 

ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS. 

1848. 1849. 

Stockholm, 1 to 2.20 .. 1 to 2.2T 

Other towns, 1 to 5.07 . . 1 to 4.95 

Provinces, 1 to 15.31 .. 1 to 13.08 

Kingdom, 1 to 11.74 .. 1 to 10.96 

11 



242 



The ]Sr oes e-Folk. 



ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS. — Continued. 



In Sweden, from 1T80-85. 1800-05. 1820-25. 


1840-48. 


1 to 29.0 1 to 17.1 1 to 14.3 


1 to 11.9 


In France, 1820. 1840. In Denmark, 1811-15. 


183&-89. 


1 to 14 1 to 13.3 1 to 93 


1 to 87 


Prisoners in Stockholm in 1850, ... 3,394 


or 1 to 28 


" Sweden, " 


- . 1 to 261 



In New York State, 1 to 1608 

" Massachusetts, 1 to 2232 

" New Hampshire 1 to 4376 

POPULATION OF STOCKHOLM — (rudbeck's Svca Hike.) 

Year 1760, , 69,108 

" 1780, 75,107 

" 1790, r 68,986 

" 1800, 75,517 

" 1810, 65,474 

" 1815, 72,652 

" 1823, 73,210 

" 1845, 88,242 

" 1850, 91,544 

" 1855, 95,950 

From these statistics,* some interesting conclusions may- 
be drawn. In the capital, it appears, that various causes 
consume life faster than it is produced, so that if left without 
immigration from the country, Stockholm, before many years, 
would be depopulated. The ratio of suicides is immense ; in 
1849, one out of every four hundred persons, or probably 
one out of every two hundred adult men and women. 

* Mostly collected by Hon. Mr. Schroeder. 



Morale. 243 

Out of every hundred children born into the world in the 
city, nearly fifty are illegitimate. In the whole kingdom, 
one out of nearly eleven. The consumption of human life 
in the Swedish capital, and the prevalence of vice, are facts 
not to be dissociated. The whole kingdom appears to have 
been steadily retrograding since 1180, in this regard ; in 
1840 there being fifty per cent, more illegitimate births to 
legitimate than in the above year, and a worse ratio than 
in France. However, there are extenuating circumstances 
in regard to Stockholm, which do not appear in figures, and 
it is very possible that Stockholm is not materially worse 
than New York, or Paris. 

There are scarcely any houses of ill-fame, it should be re- 
membered, in the city. There is not such a desperate, aban- 
doned, God-forsaken class of women as in our large cities. 
The grisettes of Stockholm preserve some decency and have 
a chance at least of a better life. They are occupied as seam- 
stresses, or servants, or shop-women, and frequently after 
many years of unlawful companionship, are married. The 
cause of these numerous liaisons is probably here as with us, 
the difficulty of woman's earning an honorable support. The 
laws, too, of former times, which forbade the clergy from in- 
vestigating the illegitimate births, must have furnished an 
additional safeguard to the guilty parties. It should be 
borne in mind also, that the parents of an illegitimate child 
in Sweden, are frequently married, subsequently to the entry 
of the name on the Church books, so that an exact judgment 
of the present state of morals of the people cannot be formed 
from these certainly rather alarming statistics. 



244 The Norse-Folk. 

It is significant, in this connection, that the Swedish 
Prayer-book, alone, perhaps, of all the Church-books of the 
world, has a prayer for " Mothers, who have been deceived 
by promise of marriage ;" * and the Swedish law recognizes 
that the promise, if it can be proved by reUable witnesses, 
secures, even before the marriage, to the children the right 
of legitimate children, and to the woman all the rights of a 
wife. 

* Prof. A. 0. Knos — Swedische Kirchen Yerfassung, p. 145. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

DALECARLIA UPSALA. 

Ever since reading, as a boy, of the faithful peasants of 
Dalecarlia, who sheltered and fought for the brave Gustavus 
Vasa, I have had an interest in the people. I fancied 
beside, in Stockholm, that the Dalecarlian boat-women, 
with their honest nut-brown faces and stalwart arms, were 
the best specimens of peasantry I had seen, and I resolved 
to visit their Province — the kernel of Sweden. But it is a 
difficult matter to travel comfortably here. At length, 
after some trouble, having provided myself with a travelling 
companion and a carriage in Stockholm, I started by steamer 
for Upsala. 

The views on the trip are not interesting with the exception 
of a glimpse gained of one object — the ruins of the ancient 
SiGTUNA, the oldest town in Scandinavia, and one of the cen- 
tres of the worship of Odin. 

Upsala itself is in a wide plain, and would be a common- 
place town, but for the old Cathedral — which is one of the 
most remarkable structures in the country, of pure Gothic, 
and dating to the thirteenth century — and its ancient Uni- 
versity. This was founded in 14^7, by Sten Sture the elder; 

245 



246 The JSTorse-Folk. 

it received its greatest endowments from Gustavus Adolphus, 
and has continued to be the leading university of Sweden. 
It numbers many great names among its professors — Lin- 
naeus, Geijer, Bergmann, Svanneberg, Wallin, and others. 

In passing through the streets, I noticed an ample, well- 
built house, evidently for public objects. " For the Stock- 
holm Nation," my friend said. Each province is called a 
Nation, and has its own quarter and house. The students 
of the Nation have many things in common, and usually a 
place of amusement, with library and reading-room, like this 
building. The same division is used in classifying the stu- 
dents. 

There are 14 Nations in the University. The number of 
students is 1,350 ; professors, 26 — four each in Philosophy, 
Law, Medicine, and Theology. Adjuncts, 18, and docents, 
29 ; beside a number engaged in the library, and in teach- 
ing modern languages. Annual revenues from property, 
about $30,000. Of the rare literary treasures of this uni- 
versity, especially of the famed Codex Argenteus, the envy 
of scholars, it is not necessary I should speak. Guide-books 
and hand-books give full information. 

THE SCHOOLS 

are, the Cathedral School, with 300 pupils ; the Lyceum 
and Keal Gymnasium, with 50 pupils each ; the People's 
Schools — as the Duke of TJppland's, with 300 scholars, the 
Princess Eugenia's, for infants, with 90 ; the " School of 
Exercise," and a School for Vagrants. 



Swedish Aliens. 247 

There is also a good Poor-House, and bat little beggary- 
is seen in the streets. 

A telegraph connects Upsala and Stockholm. The popu- 
lation of the city is 1,288. 

I had the pleasure here of making the acquaintance of an 

accomplished jurist, well known in America, Prof. B 

with whom I spent a whole day talking over the Swedish 
Constitution. 

This university sends two members to the Parhament, 
who take their seats with the " House of Clergy." Yet not 
one of these gentlemen, professors or teachers, can be 
elected by their fellow-citizens to Parliament, or vote for 
any candidate out of the university. Nor have they the 
slightest share in the city elections in Upsala, where they 
have spent all their lives, and where their interests are. 
They are not strictly members of either of the " Four 
Classes" — Peasants, Citizens, Clergy, or Nobles. By one 
of the innumerable anomalies of Sweden, they can be voted 
for to a town-office, though they cannot vote. The profes- 
sors are appointed for life. Prof. B. says, ''Even the King 
himself cannot unseat me." " But if an incompetent person 
holds a chair, how do you get rid of him ?" 

''It is very difficult. He must be tried, and proved to 
have committed something worthy of punishment, and then 
he can be unseated." 

The legal Professors act the part also of " consulting law- 
yers," gratuitously. Sweden is yet in that state of pri- 
meval innocence, that it is destitute of lawyers. When 
I first fairly understood this, I could scarcely beheve it. 



248 The JSTorse-Folk. 

" What do your people do/' I asked, " when they fall into 
a difficult law-dispute ?" 

" They go to the Judges,''^ said Prof. B., " and get their 
opinion, or they come to us, and we are expected to advise." 

'' But it would take up all the time of the Judges, I 
should think, and besides, sometimes the thing must need a 
long investigation." 

''No," said the Professor; "you see those two octavo 
volumes there. They are our law. Your lawyers must 
consult between six and seven hundred such volumes. The 
fact is, we have no " common law" — only statute law — and 
a peasant, if he has a case, can work it out from these books 
and plead it himself. Sometimes an ignorant man will get 
the sheriff to state his case, and there are a few cunning 
men who are employed by the peasants to plead for them, 
but they have no professional character. In Stockholm 
now, there begins to be a class of government officials, who 
are more like your lawyers, still they have nominally other 
business." 

I was often afterwards struck with this peculiarity of the 
Swedish polity — people pleading their own cases, or stating 
them to the judge, and leaving them to his decision, with- 
out argument. It is still inexplicable to me, especially 
where anything like complicated commercial law is con- 
cerned. 

One hears now through Sweden many complaints against 
TJpsala and her conservatism ; many wish the university 
transplanted to Stockholm, so as to give it a more cosmo- 



The Old Upsala. ' 249 

politan character. Most unwisely, it seems to me. A large 
city absorbs an intellectual institution. 



" GAMLE UPSALA." 

About two miles from Upsala is Gamle Upsala (Old Up- 
sala), which is now merely an old Church, and a few cot- 
tages. The central part of this church, at this time under 
process of enlargement, is called the oldest architectural 
ruin in Sweden. It is built of rough stone, and has no espe- 
cial architectural character, except the round arch. 

It was undoubtedly the great National Temple of Odin, 
and is described even in the eleventh century, as a building 
of great magnificence.* Near it are numerous instances of 
the tumuli, found so plentifully over Scandinavia. One 
author says, there are six hundred and sixty-nine here. 

Laing supposes, — it seems to me correctly — ^that these 

* Olaus Magnus says of the Temple, that it was built so magnifi- 
centlj, that there was nothing to be seen on the walls, roof, or pil- 
lars, but shined with gold ; also, the whole upper part was made with 
glittering gold, from which a golden chain hung down, and is re- 
corded to have gone round about the Temple to the walls and tops of 
the house. Hence it was, that the Temple, situate on a large plain, by 
the admirable lustre of it, begat in those that came near to it, a ven- 
erable fire of religion. There grew before the doors of it a huge tree, 
of an unknown kind, that spread with large boughs, and was green 
both in Summer and Winter. * * * * 

Let this suffice for other nations to understand some of the vain 
customs of the Goths. — {History of Goths and Swedes, trayislated in 
1658— London.) 

11* 



250 The Norse-Folk. 

were natural formations, but used as burial-places, and as 
places for addressing the people. One of them, a lofty 
mound, is still called the Tinges mound, or place where 
the great National Assembly of the Bonders was held in 
early times. It has been excavated, and the entrance to the 
interior is carefully guarded by a gate — my companion said 
that many small ornaments of value had been found here for 
the museums. 

The " Ting" was a purely Democratic Assembly, like 
the Norwegian Ting, composed of all the free-holders : 
was the governing power of Sweden in the days of 
the Vikings. It made kings and unmade them ; voted 
supplies, passed laws, called out levies, and, though some- 
times overawed by the kings, was on the whole, a most 
powerful and independent Assembly. The Bonders had 
certain men among them, who, from their talents or charac- 
ter, came to lead and represent them at these Tings, called 
Lagman — the Swedish Tribunes. 

There is a very characteristic scene given in the Saga of 
" Olof the Saint," (Laing's translation) of a national Ting, 
held at this very place, in the spring of 1018. The ques- 
tion before the Assembly was, whether King Olof, of 
Sweden, should give his daughter to King Olof of Norway, 
in order to put a stop to the war waging between the two 
countries. A certain Earl present had, in a set speech, 
strongly urged the king to this measure — but the king had 
as strongly refused, in a speech very bitter, both against the 
Earl and the King of Norway. A lagman (named Thorgny), 
who is represented as having a white beard reaching 



A Scene of Olden Time. 251 

to his knees, when he sat, prepared himself to reply, or in 
the words of the Saga — 

"Then Thorgny stood up; and when he arose, all the Bonders 
stood up who had before been sitting, and rushed together from all 
parts to listen to what language Thorgny would say. At first, there 
was a great din of people and weapons; but when the noise was 
settled into silent listening, Thorgny made his speech. 'The dis- 
position of Swedish kings is different now from what it has been 
formerly. My grandfather, Thorgny, could well remember the 
Upsal king, Eric Emundson, and used to say of him, that when he 
was in his best years he went out every summer on expeditions to 
different countries, and conquered for himself Finland, Liflland, 
Curland, Esthland, and the eastern countries all around; and at 
the present day, the earth bulwarks, ramparts, and other great 
works which he had made are to be seen. And, moreover, he was 
not so proud that he would not listen to people who had anything 
to say to him. My father, again, was a long time with King Bjorn, 
and was well acquainted with his ways and manners. In Bjorn's 
lifetime, his kingdom stood in great power, and no kind of want 
was felt, and he was gay and sociable, with his friends. I also 
remember King Eric, the victorious, and was with him on many a 
war expedition. He enlarged the Swedish dominion, and defended 
it manfully ; and it was also agreeable to communicate our 
opinions to him. But the King we have now got allows no man to 
presume to talk with him, unless it be what he desires to hear. On this 
alone he applies all his power, while he allows his scattlands in other 
countries to go from him through laziness and weakness. He wants 
to have the Norway kingdom laid under him, which no Swedish king 
before him ever desired, and therewith brings war and distress on 
many a man. Now it is our will, we Bonders, that thou, king Olaf, 
make peace with the Norway king, Olaf the Thick, and marry thy 
daughter Ingegerd to him. Wilt thou, however, reconquer the king* 



252 The Noese-Folk. 

doms in the east countries which thy relations and forefathers had 
there, we will all for that purpose follow thee to the war. But if 
thou wilt not do as wo desire, we will now attack thee, and put thee 
to death; for we will no longer suffer law and peace to be disturbed. 
So our forefathers went to work when they drowned five kings in 
a well at the Mula-Ting, and they were filled with the same 
insupportable pride thou hast shown towards us. Now tell us, in 
all haste, what resolution thou wilt take.' Then the whole public 
approved, with clash of arms and shouts, the Lagman's speech." — 
Heimskringla^ vol. ii. p. 93. 

The King, of course, yielded. It is such a spirit among 
the old Norse Folk which has finally given birth to Magna 
Charta and the American Republic. 

Old Upsala was, without doubt, the centre of the reli- 
gious worship and the capital of the monarchy of the an- 
cient Swedes, as distinguished from the Goths in middle 
Sweden. The conversion of this part of Sweden to Christian- 
ity was characteristic, and perhaps has not been without its 
influence on the later aspect of its rehgion. 

Hear the Heimskringla. 

CONVERSION OF UPLAND KINGS. 

"When King Olof had dispatched Bjorn and his followers to 
Gothland, he sent other people also to the Uplands, with the errand 
that they should have guest-quarters prepared for him, as he intended 
that winter to live as guest in the Uplands; for it had been the 
custom of former kings to make a progress in guest-quarters every 
third year in the Uplands. In autumn, he began his progress from 
Sparsborg, and went first to Vingulmark. He ordered his progress 
so that he came first to lodge in the neighborhood of the forest 



Posting-. 253 

habitations, and summoned to him all the men of the habitations 
who dwelt at the greatest distance from the head-habitations of 
the district; and he inquired particularly how it stood with their 
Christianity, and where improTement was needful, he taught them 
the right customs. If any there were who would not renounce 
heathen ways, he took the matter so zealously that he drove some 
out of the country, mutilated others of hands or feet, or stung their 
eyes out, hung up some, cut down some with the sword ; but let 
some go unpunished who would not serve God. He went thus 
through the whole district, sparing neither great nor small. He gave 
them teachers, and placed these as thickly in the country as he saw 
needful. In this manner, he went about in that district, and had 
three hundred deadly men at-arms with him, and then proceeded 
to Baumarige. He soon perceived that Christianity was thriving less 
the farther he proceeded into the interior of the counti-y. He sent 
forward everywhere in the same way, converting all the people to 
the right Faith, and severely punishing all who would not listen to 
his word." 



POSTINa. 

From Upsala we commenced our land-journey towards 
Dalecarlia, taking Dannemora on the way, and intending 
to pass over a little of Sodermanland. 

It is wonderful how long the Swedes have submitted 
to the inconveniences of travel in their country. To travel 
in a province, a hundred miles from their capital, or even 
twenty miles, one must take his own carriage, convey it 
to and fro by boat, hire at every statio'n his two horses, 
for ever annoyed with waiting for horses or hurrying them, 
with paying wait-money if he is behind the time he has set 



254: The IST o k s e - F o l k . 

by post, with feeing hdllkarlar (ostlers) and post-boys, never 
accomplishing more than seven miles an hour, and paying 
about the price of our American stage-coaches, or double 
that of the railroads — five and six cents a mile, — this, where, 
in some seasons, the travel is incessant over the roads. 

Yet it has also its pleasures. This traversing a country 
in your own comfortable carriage, giving you time for 
visiting and talking with people, and the excitement of 
accomplishing the stage in full time, are not disagreeable 
experiences to a traveller. On one of our first stages, I had 
an experience of a different people from the Norwegian 
we had just left — the little rogue of a post-boy cribbaging 
some small articles which we could not well spare. 

DANNEMORA. 

These iron mines are well known to the whole world. 
The sight was one of the grandest I ever had, as the crane 
swung us off at a giddy height into the black chasm : the 
little insects of men pecking away at the rock far below, 
the mighty columns and arches disclosing gloomy vistas, 
as in some subterranean rock-temple, and the grand craggy 
walls of the mine — a mountain-side. We wandered about 
a little in the chilly vaults, and collected some specimens. 
There are over three hundred workmen employed ; each 
has a house, a plot of ground and certain privileges, as 
well as the day's wages paid by the job — about twenty-five 
cents a day. When old or disabled, he and his family are 
allowed a pension. A great many children are at work 



Iron Mine. 255 

above, on the outside of the mine — as usual with the miners^ 
children, a sad, miserable-looking set. The whole popula- 
tion connected with the mine is about thirteen hundred. 
The water is pumped out by steam, and conveyed a con- 
siderable distance. The iron owes its adaptability to the 
fabrication of steel, to the quantity of magnesia contained 
in it, and its excellent quality, to the small quantity of 
sulphur and phosphorus. The ore yields from forty to fifty 
per cent. There are seventy-nine different mines, some but 
little worked. The first working of them, say the books, 
dates back at least to the 15th century. The annual ex- 
pense of the works is one hundred and seventy-one thousand 
rix dollars. The produce is roughly estimated at about ten 
thousand tons. The Superintendent of the mine is a govern- 
ment official, though paid by the proprietors. A physician and 
nine other officers are engaged in the service of the company. 

Beyond the mines one of our first stations was Alfta. 
We stopped to change horses and called for tea. The 
landlady did not know anything about the article. We 
took out our own, and, to the great admiration of the chil- 
dren, began the preparation. The woman then remembered 
that some travellers had once left a little there ; but she 
had never used it, supposing it to be a medicine. 

Gefle. — This is a thriving town with considerable com- 
merce. The houses are white, and mostly of two stories ; and 
the streets paved with cobble stones, without side-walks. 
A railroad is soon to connect this with Fahlun. As usual, the 
hotel was wretched, but charges are very moderate. Seventy- 
five cents a day will cover the expenses in most country hotels. 



256 The Norse-Folk. 

Mo-Mtsie is the best station in all the North; with largCj 
neat bedrooms, and good, substantial fare. At a station 
near this, while waiting for horses, we walked over to the 
parsonage, to make a call on the clergyman. We found it 
the best house and farm in the village — the building new, 
and painted white, of two stories. The maid, who accident- 
ally found us in the hall — for there is never a bell, or 
knocker, or any means of communication, in most Swedish 
houses, showed us up into a large attic, and there left us. 
It was occupied by a miscellany of objects, deer-skins, spin- 
ning-wheels, books, clothes and odd chairs. At length we 
spied a door, which might conduct us to the parlor. It was 
opened to the rap, and a stout, important-looking gentleman 
looked up from his writing. He had the unfailing pipe in 
one hand, a smoking-cap on his head, and in the corner near 
him was a chevaux defrise of pipes. When we had stated 
our objects, he welcomed us, and then begged us to excuse 
him a moment, while he attended to the baptism of a child, 
who was just then brought by a peasant for the purpose. 
This, as in all Lutheran countries, is a legal requisition, and 
for which the clergyman is always paid a fee. 

On his return, we had a long conversation. Education, 
he thought much progressing among his people. The parish 
numbered 6,000, with two preachers ; there were six "cir- 
culating schools " and one established, with some 500 scho- 
lars. The pay of a common teacher was about 21 cents a 
day ; of a higher teacher, $100 per annum. The great dif- 
ficulty was with the teachers — to get good men on such a 
miserable pay. After discussing the merits of the new 



A Paksonage. 257 

Swedish school-system, we* were about to go to the inn, when 
he insisted on our staying for dinner. 

We were shown out to the large dance saloon, in the 
middle of which, the little round table with its pure white 
Swedish Knen, was set. Flowers were here, as everywhere, 
at the windows and on the tables. The walls were painted 
in fresco, by a village artist. The dinner was simple and 
good ; home-made beer was served to each, and coffee was 
brought in immediately after the silent thanks at the end. 
Then an offering of cigars and pipes, and a courteous fare- 
well, as our post-carriage comes to the door. 

A .—We had a letter to the clergyman of this vil- 
lage, and drove into the great court-yard of the parsonage. 
The pastor at once, on reading the letter, ordered our horses 
to be taken out and detained us for the night, to which we 
were not averse. After a little chat over the cigars, we all 
set forth to see the Church and the village. 

This last has some yery comfortable houses, the property 
of rich peasants. The church is only a little distance from 
the parsonage. Before entering, the pastor deposited his 
cigar on a tombstone, and reverentially uncovering, we step_ 
ped within. The building was large, of the simple cross 
form, but with no columns or arches to interrupt the view ; 
the usual audience is about two thousand. The pastor took 
us to the sacristy to show his dresses — the splendid crimson 
cassocks with the gold cross, the common white and black, 
and others with various embroidery and ornaments. Pastor 
F. states that his parish contains four thousand four hundred 



258 The Nokse-Folk. 

souls, and extends some eleven Swedish square miles. He 
has frequently to ride thirty-five miles to preach, and he 
must catechise at forty-five different places through the 
year, sometimes in the coldest weather. He is much dis- 
couraged by the licentiousness of the peasants — the propor- 
tion of illegitimate children being very large. In drinking 
habits, he sees a vast improvement, especially since the new 
laws, which make brandy so expensive. 

There are, in the parish, five circulating schools and one 
established, having together about four hundred children 
in attendance. Here again is the complaint of poor teach- 
ers and poor pay ; some receiving only six dollars per 
annum, with board I Dissent, he informs me, is beginning 
to make havoc among his flock. The excitements of Ldsarne 
(a kind of methodism) have already produced sad results, 
physically. It was a commentary on his remarks that we 
met, in our short walk, three persons, crazy from the over- 
tension of their religious feelings. The Baptists and Ldsarine 
have not dared, as yet, he says, to come out and build 
chapels, for fear of legal measures, but he thinks they soon 
will. The parish, he informs me, is a royal parish — that is, 
the King appoints the clergyman, though usually the Con- 
sistorium presents three candidates, to select from. The 
salary is a certain pro rata sum fixed by the parish-meeting 
{Socken stdmma) and collected in driblets of produce or 
money from each peasant ; every man being obliged by law 
to give a certain amount. 

This village is in Helsingeland, and the peasants have a 
peculiar character. They are by no means so intelligent as 



FuKifrTURE. 259 

tile Dalecarlians, but there is more wealth with individuals, 
and greater extremes of condition. We visited a number of 
peasants' properties. According to the universal Scandina- 
vian arrangement, for rich or poor, there is a little square of 
houses, one being for guests, and for the family, and another 
for the servants and for store-room. The doorways to the 
principal houses were highly decorated, and had almost an 
Oriental aspect. Within, each room was perfectly neat 
and clean, with large beds and good plain furniture. The 
floors were sprinkled with twigs of pines. In some, we saw 
a singular article of furniture, consisting of a bedstead, 
painted white and gilt, with a secretary for the foot-board, 
and a clock for head-board. Others had large bed-rooms, 
used as store-rooms ; some were quite prettily painted 
within. The most notable thing was the neatness. I saw 
no book except the Bible and Psalm-book. The women 
who showed us their rooms were usually healthy, cheery 
looking working women, dressed somewhat in colored cos- 
tume. The pastor says that generally they are well in- 
structed, but that there are some superstitions remaining 
among them, which he cannot break down. When they are 
sick, they always send first to the old witches, before they 
apply to the regular physician. A Helsinglander, who buys 
a horse, is careful to take him out the first time hackwards 
from the stable, to avoid the evil spirits — the Tomt ! — and 
with the most, the mountains and desolate places are still 
beset with the legions of spirits who haunted their heathen 
forefathers. 

When we returned to the house, at about 8 o'clock, a 



260^ The ]^okse-Folk. 

good supper was served up for us, and we sat long, talking 
of America and Sweden ; for this family, like so many in 
Sweden, has its members in the New World. A Swedish 
military officer was present. In the glow of the conversa- 
tion, he could not refrain from an enthusiastic outburst for 
his country, such as I have often heard since — " After all, 
as we look over the nations of the world, there is no coun- 
try so blessed as old Sweden. Here every one can speak or 
write as he pleases ; there is no slavery here, and we have a 
good King. Yes, we are the happy people I" The others 
smiled, but evidently considered him quite right. 

I ventured to object, partly for argument's sake, and 
asked how a country could be called blessed where there 
were such multitudes of ignorant people, and spoke of the 
licentiousness and drunkenness. '' The proportion of illegit- 
imate births in Stockholm are fifty per cent." He replied, 
that as to the ignorance of the people, he would not com- 
pare them with the American. '' But look at the English 
peasantry and the German ! How many cannot read or 
write ! Here it is very seldom that you will find a peasant 
who cannot read. And for brandy-drinking, it was, indeed, 
bad some years since ; but the people improve every day in 
that. And, for my part, I do not believe them worse than 
other nations in the matter of licentiousness. You cannot 
judge from Stockholm, sir. It is true there are very many 
illegitimate children there, but there are no prostitutes. We 
hear of fifty thousand women in London who are damned 
for this world utterly. There is hardly one in Sweden. 
Even if a woman has an unlawful connection, she can still 



J^oble-Manijfactueeks. 261 

raise herself up again, and she lives at least in a human 
relation with her companion." 

" But the children I What becomes of them ?" I asked. 

" The State takes care of them," he answered. ''It is 
bad, I know. But which is worse — that, or your infernal 
prostitution ?" 

Iron Works. — On our ride, the next day, we stopped at a 
wretched village adjoining the iron works of D., which we 
wished to visit. Why is it in Europe that manufactures 
always draw after them such a trail of poverty ? This was 
the most miserable, ragged population I had seen. We 
entered the "Works" through a gentleman's house, and 
very tasteful grounds laid out on the stream that gave 
the water-power. The proprietors were two young bach- 
elor noblemen, who at once welcomed us to brandy, fruit, 
and cigars. We declined the former, and sat down to a 
little chat over some delicious hot-house fruit. They are 
manufacturing bar-iron — employ three hundred laborers — 
wages usually one rix dollar (twenty-five cents) per diem. 
I inquired how it was that they, as noblemen, were manu- 
facturing. 

*' It is very common now, sir, in Sweden," Captain D. 
answered. " We younger branches must do that, or belong 
to the bureaucracy, or try to get a commission. The fact is, 
sir, we are the most unhappy class of the community. You 
know, by our admirable Constitution, we cannot vote be- 
cause we are not of the elder branch. We get very little 
of the large estates, for they are all 'Jidei commiss ' (set- 
tled on. the eldest son), and so we are all dependent on tho 



262 The N okse- Folk . 

elder brothers, or we must work, to which we have not been 
trained." 

" Can you never take a seat in Parliament ?" I asked. 

" Yes — if the ca^ut familice, as we call him, will resign his 
seat to us. Sometimes we can buy a seat from a poor noble." 

The forges which we examined afterwards contained noth- 
ing remarkable. The great hammers were raised by a very 
rude contrivance — the outside spokes of a wheel carried by 
water, striking the head of the hammer, once in a given time 
— ^it falling again by its own weight. The furD^ces were 
hciited with charcoal. I observed in one part of our walk, 
a pretty school-house of stone, which these gentlemen were 
erecting for the children of their workmen. 

We stopped for the night at a kind of chateau, belong- 
ing to another iron-manufacturer — a most simple, gen- 
tlemanly person. He is manufacturing chains and iron 
cables and the like : — two hundred and fifty workmen — 
produce JOOjOOO rix dollars per annum — wages from twenty- 
five cents to thirty-seven and a half cents per diem — nujnber 
of hours of labor, eight. The cables are tried by a hydro- 
static machine to such a tension that a quarter- ounce differ- 
ence in the weight will break or preserve them. When the 
new railroad is finished from Soderhamn to Bolnaes, all 
these iron works will be greatly benefited. This gentleman 
informed me that his establishment has a vote for a member 
of Parliament, as now the iron interest is represented by five 
members in the House of Burgers. This concession was made 
a few years ago by the Parliament in order to quiet some of 
the grumblings against the unwieldiy Constitution. Like 



The Bikches. 263 

the other ' great factories, his establishment is obliged to 
have a school for the children of the workmen, and for others 
in the parish. 

We were very hospitably entertained here. The house 
was prettily furnished, and had a great number of French 
engravings, especially of the heroes of the French Revolu- 
tion. In the better class of Swedish houses, one often sees 
these indications of the former well-known French bias of 
the nation. I bid adieu the next morning to this gentleman 
and his courteous hospitality with regret. 

Orsa. — The beginning of our ride towards this village 
was through very desolate pine barrens. The characteristic 
Swedish scenery are woods of pines, with glimpses of lakes 
under the sombre branches, and occasional sun-lit glades, 
varied by groves of that exquisitely beautiful tree, the Nor- 
thern drooping birch. The glory of Scandinavia is the 
birch groves. We have nothing like them in America. The 
glimmering, trembling leaves, the graceful droop of the 
branches, the light and shade — the tone which nature herself, 
in truest feeling, has impressed on the bark of their gigantic 
trunks, so that without sun-light, there is a perpetual variety 
of light throngh their checkered arches — make unforgetable 
pictures in the traveller's memory. 

A pleasant cheerful tree, which we met near the villages, 
is the mountain ash, with clusters of the most brilliant red 
berries. This tree, so familiar to the student of Scandina- 
vian mythology, is still cherished by the superstitious of the 
peasants. Its name sounds almost precisely the same as the 
Scotch "rowan-tree" — Ron. 



264 The N or se- Folk . 

As we entered Dalecarlia, the costumes began to change. 
Hitherto in Helsingeland, we have seen black caps with red 
tassels, dark jackets and breeches ; now the peasants have 
white cap and jacket, sometimes with curious tassels at their 
knees. The faces are generally swarthy, with high cheek 
bones, eyes dark, but hair light and long. We have passed 
one village of log-houses — Skattungeby — utterly deserted, 
the people being all in the fields. Each farm has precisely 
the same arrangements — ^the gate opening through the barn 
into a little square, each side of which is a log-cabin. The 
servants and animals sleep in the same building. There is 
not a framed glass window in the village, or a frame house. 
The church only is a handsome, modern-painted building. In 
the middle of the town is a high " mid-summer pole," with 
garlands still upon it, and bristling with wooden swords and 
arrows of ancient shapes, perhaps all in the form established 
by the worshippers of Odin and Thor. 

A Postman. — (Postman, overwhelmed in astonishment,) 
" From America ! Gud bevars ! (God forbid.) Did the Herr 
come by land so far ?" 

"Water ; and 3,000 miles in eleven days." 

" jEZft .' I suppose every one makes money there ? S. 

B has just come back here to live, with pockets full. 

He "« as in — in — " 

" Louisville," sai<i my companion, who knew the case, 

''What are wages in America, sir ?" 

" Four riks, and meat every day." 

" What a country 1 We cannot make twenty-four skil- 
lings (twelve cents) a day here. And I have never eaten 



Postman's Theology. 265 

meat for seven montlis, and my wife and we all ate hark 
Iread * last winter." 

We asked whether he drank liquor. He shook his head 
lugubriously. " We have no money, Herr, for brandy, it 
costs too much." My companion led him on to the subject 
of the Dissenters — the Baptists. 

" Oh, yes, Herr, I knew some. One poor devil in T — — , 
says he will never have his boy baptized by the church. 
They have a little chapel not far away. But God will 
destroy the infidels ! People say that they are going to 
stop all dances, yet every one knows that they sleep to- 
gether, men and women, every night, and then go about 
screaming and praying to frighten honest people. They will 
all go to hell, certainly !" There was much gusto in the 
tone with which he disposed of the unfortunate Bap- 
tists. 

Grradnally, in our route, we began to descend towards the 
valley of Lake Siljan, the historic part of Dalecarlia, and the 
seat of the bravest and best population of Sweden. Here 
Gustavus Yasa concealed himself from the victorious Danes, 
until at length his eloquence roused the peasantry to the first 
resistance, which finally freed the country. Geijer says, that 
in these speeches of Gustavus to the peasants, the old men 
reckoned it as a good sign that the north wind always blew, 
" which was an old token to them that God would grant 
them good success." 

We were well pleased to enter a cultivated country again, 

* This is the bark and resin of the pine, mingled with a Utile bran. 

12 



266 The ]NoKSE- Folk. 

with homesteads and marks of prosperity, after so long an 
experience of the pine woods. The Swedes are very enthu- 
siastic over the Siljan scenery. It is gentle and pleasing — 
that is all one can say, and to a traveller fresh from Norway, 
it seems tame and commonplace. 

The sturdy Dalecarlians were at work in the fields^ men 
and women, in very picturesque white, black, and red cos- 
tumes. As we rattled by into Orsa, the post-boy put them 
all into excitement by his cries, " An American ! an Ameri- 
can !" 

We are now among the genuine Dalecarlians, or " Dales- 
men "- — the dales being made primarily by the two branches 
of the Dal Elver, which unite below, near Fahlun. There 
are many glens and cross-valleys, beside the two principal 
valleys. The whole number of persons inhabiting these, 
may be 150,000. 

Mora. — We did not stop in Orsa, but hurried on to Mora, 
as one of the most characteristic points of the provinces. 
The village is built on the northern extremity of Lake Siljan, 
near the mouth of the Oster Dal River. Our hotel was un- 
usually good, still poor enough — the walls decorated with 
prints from Frithiofs Saga. The pastor, to whom we were 
especially recommended, lived but a little distance ; a man 
of large proportions in heart and body, with a sort of 
fatherly-arbitrary relation to every one, which was very 
agreeable. After the first introduction, we sat in front of 
the house under the old trees, the party smoking and drink- 
ing the home-made beer. 

"We have seldom had the pleasure of a visit from an 



Traits of Peasants. 267 

American," said the old man. " Walkommen !" clapping me 
heartily on the shoulder, " but we have one or two peasants 
who speak English." 

I asked how that was? "You must know," he answered, 
"that our Dalecarlians are the most migratory people in 
Sweden. They wander all over Europe to sell their little 
wares — hair-chains, bracelets, and watches. There are 
about two thousand now absent from my parish. They 
go to Russia and Italy, and even England. But they 
always come back. They love nothing So much as this 
poor country. They are the proudest people ! The Fru 
Prostinna will tell you what trouble we have with servants. 
We must send to Helsingeland, and other provinces ; no 
Dalecarlian will be a house servant I 

" They are a brave people," he added, seeing my interest, 
" the most honest people of the world, I think. If you will 
pass through these villages at any hour, you will see linens 
and furs and various things of value left out, and no one 
ever loses a styfver (stiver). And there is something so 
strong and inexpressive in them ! I remember when the 
first little steamboat plied on this lake. I happened to 
be out and saw it first, and turned and told a Bonder 
who was ploughing, ' There's the steamboat ! Have you 
seen it V He turned and looked at it, and I have no doubt 
was overwhelmed with astonishment. It was the first he 
had ever seen, but he only answered, quietly, ' I see it,' 
and went on ploughing ! They never will betray their feel- 
ings. Lately a proposition was made to my church to 
have a picture of Gustavus Vasa placed in the building, 



26S The Nokse-Folk. 

in commemoration of the great services of their ancestors. 
' No,' they said, ' what our fathers did does not need 
any pictures or writing. Every man knows it ' — and they 
refused." 

They are exceedingly ingenious with machinery, the pas- 
tor says. He has known a peasant after a single exami- 
nation of this little steamboat, go home and construct a 
miniature steam-engine. The telegraph runs now along all 
the great roads in Sweden. One of these men told the 
pastor, on seeing it, that if he could only once examine 
the marking machine, he would engage to construct a tele- 
graph from Ms house to the parsonage 1 

Our host's account of the morals of his parish corresponds 
with all we have heard of Dalecarlia. There are 9,000 
souls in it, and he never has heard of more than two or 
three illegitimate children in the year. Yet, with this re- 
markably favorable condition of morals, there exists here 
as everywhere in Dalecarlia, the singular custom of the 

When a Bonder would woo a maiden, he is allowed by the 
parents to sleep with her, both being in their full clothing. 
When there are several lovers, three or four will frequently 
pass the night together. For this purpose beds of immense 
width are in use among the peasants. Sometimes for more 
unreserved communication, they will sleep in the cattle- 
stalls, as otherwise tbey are in the same room with their 
parents. Saturday and Sunday nights are the universal 

* 
* Got frijon ; Sansc. prinami ; Gr. ^lXtjiil, TrpiaT^oc — Save. 



Singular Customs. 269 

nights through Norrland for the " wooing." The custom 
has furnished much subject for the poets of the country, 
and probably will be one of the last which the Bonders 
will abandon, under the influences of advancing civilization. 
It exists only occasionally in Sweden out of Dalecarlia ; 
but, as we have seen, in many parts of Norway, in Finland, 
and, it is said, in Switzerland. Here, it seems entirely pure 
and innocent. A friend tells me he has known a Bonder 
thus woo his maiden for nine years I One great preser- 
vative in Dalecarlia against vice is undoubtedly the early 
age at which marriages are made — -the groom often not 
being more than eighteen. 

The father, in the marriages of the peasants, ha,s great 
authority — frequently giving away a daughter with very 
little regard to her feelings. There is a secret contract 
and ceremony before the marriage in the church, about 
which little is known. The Bonder is as aristocratic in 
his connections as the Noble in his. A Burger would be 
much more likely to marry the daughter of a peasant, 
than a Bonder (a free-holder) the daughter of a Torpare 
(a farm-servant paying his rent by labor). One of the 
evils of Dalecarlia is the division of land. It is customary 
for the father to divide his land equally among his children ; 
and the consequence is, that the estates at last come down 
into the smallest parcels, and a man will own a lot not 
larger than a small bed-room in one spot, and another of 
equal size, perhaps half a mile away, so that you see every- 
where the fields cut up by innumerable lines of fences. One 
great object of marriage accordingly is to unite neighboring 



270 The Norse-Folk. 

lots, and all else that concern the two parties is often 
sacrificed to contiguity. These little properties are fre- 
quently pawned to the larger proprietors near, and still 
paying taxes, they are eaten up at last by the burdens. 

The custom of the Fria has a corresponding custom in New Eng- 
land, which undoubtedly existed in all parts of it in our early history, 
perhaps derived from the Norwegians of Northumberland — the Sun- 
day evening " bundling." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



DALECARLIA. 



While we were sitting by the parsonage chatting, a 
young peasant came up, in leather apron, white wool cloak, 
breeches, and thick cumbrous shoes. He wore a black felt 
hat with cockade. As the parson clapped him on the 
shoulder, his manner was modest and submissive, but when 
he took off his hat, he revealed a very intelligent face, and a 
well-shaped head, with an expression of much native dignity. 
'' Our Representative to the House of Bonders, and Secre- 
tary of the Sockenstamma," said our host. "He is just 
chosen for the first time." 

This was a lucky fortune to me. From the beginning of my 
journey in Sweden, this class had, more than any, interested 
me, and more than any was difficult to comprehend. They 
were evidently not gentlemen, or exactly our "farmers," 
or the English yeomanry, or the German Bauer. Their 
whole position, and privileges, and character seemed original. 

I asked about this Sockenstamma. " It is," said the 
pastor or Frost, "a kind of parish meeting, which manages 
all the affairs of the parish. The freeholders alone have 
the right to vote. It takes care of the church matters, 
the roads, the poor, and the schools. We usually now have 

271 



272 TheKokse-Folk. 

a separate committee for each of these. You see, now, 
they are repairing my parsonage, unfortunately for my 
guests. They hav^ the right to choose the clergyman, 
where the parish is not a royal one ; that is — the Consis- 
tory presents three, who preach on trial, and the meeting 
chooses from them. " Who presides over them ?" I asked. 
" I do, in my parish — ex officio. This young man here is 
the Secretary, and has a small salary. He has shown him- 
self a thorough business-man there, and that has made him 
elected for this. Talk with him ; you will find he is no 
boor. Will you take snuff, sir ?" 

" No, thank you. What is he paid ?" 

" The peasants determine that — probably five dollars riks 
yald ($1,25) aday." 

"Will he wear that dress in Stockholm !" 

" Certainly — that is — his best national costume. If he did 
not, he would never be returned again. The last member 
was a little ashamed of it, and it ruined him here. He 
cannot be elected again." 

We started out on a walk* towards the church. I tried 
to get the delegate into a conversation, and asked him what 
position he intended to take on the question of reform in 
the Representation. "I go to Stockholm to school," he 
answered sententiously. I asked if the peasants were much 
in favor of railroads. He said those in his Province were 
beginning to see how necessary they were, and he had 
already bought two shares himself in the Bolnaes road. 
"Why should the peasants object to any man's voting in 
their class, if he owned land?" I asked. "Is it right to 



Political Talk. 2Y3 

exclude very useful men thus from the State ?" " It seemed 
unreasonable," he answered, "but he had not fully considered 
the question." 

The pastor pointed out on our walk, some large meadow 
lands, which were public property formerly, and had occa- 
sioned them much trouble in the different claims of indi- 
viduals to a share in them. Now, he said, the Secretary 
had just framed a plan of dividing the lands among the 
freeholders of the parish, in proportion to the taxes they 
paid ; and after a hot discussion, it had been passed. 

As in every circle I have visited in Sweden, the conver- 
sation fell soon, between the pastor and me, on American 
politics. The clergyman explained to the delegate, that 
"America, the freest land in the world, has the stain of 
slavery upon it ;" and that this election turns on the ex- 
tension of it. The peasant knew it, and inquired about the 
chances of Fremont I " No Swede in America," added 
he proudly, " will ever vote to have a slave." They were 
much interested in the Know Nothing party, as in oppo- 
sition to Romanism. "Oh, the sects ! the sects ! — that is 
the disgrace of America !" said the clergyman ; and the 
peasant nodded a sad assent. " What can Christ's church 
be worth, when it is broken up into so many httle parties, 
all quarrelHng with each other ?" I replied, warmly. But 
as these discussions occurred with almost every new ac- 
quaintance (and I shall have occasion soon to mention 
one), it is not necessary to repeat it here. The first con- 
ception of religious freedom has scarcely entered the Swedish 
mind. 

12* 



274: The Norse-Folk. 

We entered the churcli — an immense cruciform white 
iD.uilding, with the inner architecture somewhat in a crypt 
form, the ponderous arches meeting and uniting in massive 
columns — an exceedingly roomy and impressive arrange- 
ment. The interior was white. There are frequently five 
thousand people comfortably seated at the Sunday service. 
The building dates back to the thirteenth century. All the 
galleries are decorated with quaint paintings of Scripture 
scenes — sometimes an allegorical series, in which the tor- 
tures of the damned were a prominent feature. 

The Frost thinks there is a profound religious feeling 
among the people shown in these solemn and crowded Sun- 
day services : and he finds the same well tested in the prac- 
tical life, in sorrow and misfortune. The hard-drinking 
habits have much decreased. He has been making great 
efforts for education. The new ordinance of the ministry 
left a little choice to the clergy in respect to the established 
school in his parish ; the distances were too great for the 
children to attend any one school ; accordingly he had 
opened home schools (after CJount Rudenskold's plan) in 
certain of the private houses, where the youngest children 
are taught by women, whom he paid from the moneys voted 
for education. An informal but effective system, he thinks. 
There are about one thousand children in the home schools 
of his parish. They need, very much, thoroughly trained 
teachers for the older scholars. 

When we returned to the house, we found some of the 
peasants there who had been in England, and we had a 
long conversation together. 



Talk WITH Peasant. 275 

One of them said to me : '' They used to tell us in Scot- 
land — ' You are very far behind in Sweden — no iron roads, 
no improvements, and so on.' But I always said — ' No such 
crowds of poors, and not so much whisky in our country.' I 
saw so bad things in Glasgow !" 

" What books do you read at home, here !" I asked. 
" We read only the Bible, and sometimes the Psalm-book. 
Then a few people takes the Wdktaren (a newspaper) from 
Stockholm." 

I tried, next, to draw out from him the belief of the peo- 
ple about witchcraft and such matters ; but he was too 
*cautious to give much information — " Some believes in good 
spirits, and some in bads." 

" Do your peasants care much for politics ?" 
" No, sir — if they be let alone." 
" Do you vote ?" 

" No, sir ; I have no hemman (freehold)." 
The pastor asked him if he had an English Testament. 
He said he had, and then read very well from one which 
was brought to him. As we were about to go to the vil- 
lage, our host ordered out some ginger-beer, and it was 
given to all who were gathered about the door — among 
others, to the member of Parliament, who took off his hat 
respectfully on receiving it. On bidding good-bye to the 
peasants, I attempted to give a small gratuity to the one 
with whom I had been talking, but he would not take it, 
and it was only with considerable difficulty that I induced 
him to do so. 

It was a lovely sunset, as we walked by the quiet, peace- 



'276 The JSToKSE- Folk. 

ful lake, towards the hamlet — a broad beam of golden light 
falling over the rich harvest-fields near the mouth of the 
Dal, and the gentle rounded hills on the horizon, and 
gleaming from the coppered spire of the church ; the pastor 
leading the way, pipe in hand, talking most earnestly. The 
Adjunct (vicar), in demure black cap, on one side, and the 
delegate with his picturesque costume, behind ; the rest of 
us keeping up with the rapid pace, and talking as eagerly. 

The pastor pointed to the hills and said : '' Those are the 
mountains — Oestberg, and the next — where the peasants 
believe the Troll, and the fairies, and witches -still have 
their revels. They are poor, ignorant creatures, some oi* 
them !" I expressed my interest in these old superstitions. 
''You will not meet with many, Herr B., here," he answered. 
" The Dalecarllans are too enlightened ; but in other parts 
of Sweden, there are very singular beliefs. Indeed, lately 
here, I found that there was a certain spring, out of which 
the peasants would not drink, without first spitting into it, 
in order to avert the influence of the evil spirits ! 

" But these are not the only hills, Herr B. See you 
there ! that rounded small hill near the river. There the 
great Gustavus first harangued the peasantry of Mora, 
before they took up arms for the country I" 

I asked if the people really cherished these recollections, 
He replied that they did ; but now without much speaking 
of them. 

'■ Over there again, on the other side of the lake, is the 
cellar of Utmedland, where the King concealed himself." 

They spoke of the Baptists, who had just opened a 



Law against Baptists. 277 

chapel near by. " They are liable to the law — every one of 
them," said the clergyman. " The last Parliament made 
it a criminal offence for any layman to administer the ordi- 
nances. They could be fined and banished." 

" Why do you not enter proceedings against them ? they 
are disturbing the whole country," said the yicar. 

" Because I am doubtful of the expediency of it," he 
replied. "It is a long affair, besides. They must be 
warned by me a certain number of times first, and then the 
case may be carried from court to court." 

" Was not this whole thing brought before the courts a 
few years ago ?" I asked. 

" It was : but by the old law, those who administered the 
ordinances with motives of mockery, were alone liable ; and 
though the first court condemned them, the higher court of 
appeal reversed the sentence — rightly, in my opinion, for 
certainly these poor deluded people had no intention of mock- 
ery. But now, under the new law, they cannot escape." 

I spoke of the folly of persecution — that a good cause 
never gains by it, and the bad, when persecuted, takes on a 
better appearance to all men of huma,ne feelings. The pas- 
tor admitted it philosophically — "but the time has not 
come here, yet, for conscience-freedom. When we are 
ready for a Kepublic, we will be ready for that !" 

" And for a man not to baptize his own child ! Athe- 
istic 1" added his vicar. 

" Besides, look at America ! We have seen there what 
religious freedom is. Every preacher is seeking to advance 
his own sect— .not the evangelical spirit of religion, You 



278 The N oes k - Folk . 

have Methodists and Baptists, and Episcopalians, and Mor- 
mons — and there is sometimes hostility among them, as you 
just admitted. I have here a parishioner who was in your 
country ; he gives melancholy relations of the want of 
evangelical piety and interest in the churchly ordinances." 

*' Where was he, Herr Prost ?" 

" In Slid Carolina, I think." 

I explained then, that we would not admit a Slave State to 
be a fair representative of the religious character of our 
Union, and then gave them more fully, than in the previous 
discussion, our American position with^ respect to religious 
freedom. The aspects which individuals take of truth must be 
different — -it is a necessity. "Why should not then religious 
bodies represent some of these endless differences ? These 
various sects were all united in the grand principles — Love to 
God and Love to men — but consented to differ on these other 
points. My own experience was, that the preachers were not 
especially given to urging on the interests of their sect, as 
opposed to other sects; that the most popular clergymen were 
those who were least sectarian. In private life, certainly, 
sectarian differences had very little influence, and we never 
troubled ourselves about the theological position of our 
associates. I believed our people as thoroughly imbued 
with a deep religious feeling and principle as any other, 
though the great Sin of a part of our nation had certainly 
poisoned all in contact with it. 

Our great principle in America — as we believe, the prin- 
ciple of Protestantism — is that the conscience must be free ; 
that liberty is the true atmosphere of the soul, and without 



Feasants' Childken. 279 

it, religious life withers and dies. We conceive that this 
has nothing to do with republicanism, or with forms of gov- 
ernment — that it is universal and eternal — true in all times, 
through all societies and in all countries. 

They listened respectfully, and as I had spoken in Ger- 
man, the Prost translated to the delegate, who made no 
reply. 

" Here we are at Andersen's gard (farm) !" 

This again had the same arrangement of houses in a 
little square, though the farm was in the midst of 
the village. A woman sat in the doorway to the 
kitchen, eating — some little girls frolicking behind her — ■ 
such sweet children, brown cheeks with a color richer 
than the freshest peach-bloom, loose flaxen curls, dancing 
blue eyes, and forms so plump and healthy ! This is our 
general observation in Dalecarlia ; the children are wonder- 
fully pretty, but the women, though very healthy-looking, 
show the effect of hard work — their faces are thin and forms 
stumpy. This woman was dressed in the usual red bodice 
and white skirt, with a white cap on her head, A number 
of men stood around, tall, powerful figures, in white gar- 
ments like the Houses. Their faces were usually florid, with 
long light hair, blue eyes and high cheek-bones ; an expres- 
sion in the countenances of subdued force and of seriousness. 

The Prost introduced me to the woman, and after a few 
words, asked for a bit of her bread to give me. I took a 
small piece, hardly larger than a dollar, and tasted it ; it 
was coarse oat-cake : then, not liking to hand it back to 
the woman, I inadvertently dropped it on the grass at my 



280 The Norse-Folk. 

side. Her face changed in an instant, the eyes flashed, 
but before she could speak, the pastor had picked it up and 
placed it on her lap, and I, seeing my mistake, compli- 
mented it, and she seemed mollified. 

'' That was nearly a bad affair,'^ whispered the Prost 
immediately after. " Every Dalecarlian looks on it as one 
of the worst sins to throw bread on the ground. They have a 
perfect superstition about it. The whole village would 
have known it immediately. All the glories of America 
could not redeem yoiir reputation, if the people thought 
the Americans ever threw bread on the ground." 

We went into a kitchen soon after, where they were 
baking on iron griddles, great round rye-cakes, a foot and a 
half in diameter. These are kept and thoroughly dried for 
the winter. The house-mistress had a hearty, laughing face, 
and seemed much pleased at our interest in her operations. 
She took us into the upper rooms, to see her wardrobe. 
Two large attic-chambers were hung around with dresses — 
colored prints, snow-white wool aprons with brilliant red 
borders, silks, linens, embroidered bodices, wool-jackets, 
deer-skin coats, snow-shoes and winter-boots. Taking up 
one little spencer of soft lamb's-wool, she said, "Litet LammT 
— one instance among many of the resemblances of our lan- 
guages. We met here the man who had returned from 
America — a pale, cadaverous-looking fellow. He had had 
the yellow fever in Charleston, and nearly died ; " thought 
his own country much better." As he bid me good-bye, the 
peasants all laughed with delight, to hear him speak a 
foreign language. 



Farewell. 281 

Late in the evening we returned to the parsonage. Again 
a hospitable supper was served, with the silent, reverential 
grace, preceding and following, as if every meal were a new 
indication of the universal Providence. A pleasant talk 
around the table followed. It was noticeable that this gen- 
tleman had no wine or spirits on his table — a moderation 
rarely seen in Sweden. Hearty shakes of the hand were 
given — "Adieu I" " Farw'dlP^ and we had parted from the 
warm-hearted family. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



TOUR IN DALECARLIA. 



Rutwilc. — The Ratwik parsonage is another of the great 
hospitable parsonages — one house being for guests and sum- 
mer enjoyment, another for the winter, another as a study 
for the clergyman, and still another for the servants. In the 
large dance saloon, called the King's Hall, in memory of a 
royal visit, where we meet, the outside doors are wide open, 
and the bountiful dinner is brought in by courses, and is 
placed on a little table in the centre, for every one to help 
himself as he wishes. Before commencing, the usual pre- 
lude is gone through of a glass of whisky and bread and 
cheese — the gentlemen helping themselves first, and then 
the ladies. We eat standing. It is a generous room, with 
pine planks twenty or twenty-five feet long, making the 
flooring. 

" I suppose you have great times here, with the dances on 
Christmas eve and the holidays ?" I said. 

" Bevars ! l^oi alone then — every Sunday night I" said 
a spirited young lady. * * * 

^' What is the history of that picture," I asked, pointing 
to a painting on the wall. " A wonderful painting I" 

282 



Painting. 283 

" Ack that I the Herr Pastor received it at a lottery (of 
an Art Pnion). It is very good — by Mahnstrom, the 
^ Noma Gest.'' The tale is this. One of the old skalds, in 
the time of the Vikinger, was visited at his birth by three 
wise Norna-women. The mother had lighted two candles at 
the cradle, as was commanded, and the old witches began to 
prophesy. They told her he should be wise and great and 
rich, and surpass all of his day — when suddenly the youngest 
Noma Greytur burst in, offended at not being treated with 
ceremony, and she said : ' Boy ! thou shalt not live longer 
than the candle that burns beside thee.' The mother was 
in terror, but the oldest witch took the candle and put it 
out, and gave it to his mother and bade her keep it. She 
did so, and when the boy grew and became a famous bard, 
she gave it to him. He lived for three hundred years and 
played divinely at many courts, and celebrated the great 
battles. But finally he sighed for Yalhalla, and became tired 
of so long a life, and he took the candle from the interior of 
his harp, and lit it, and watching it, he died." 
V Is it not a good saga — and has not the artist hit it ?" ^ 

It was an old man in antique barbaric costume, of florid 
Northern face, with long white hair and an expression, 
though pained and exhausted, still noble. He leans on a 
quaintly ornamented harp, holding the dying candle between 
finger and thumb, watching with deep haggard look each 
hair's-breadth lessening of the taper. His gaze was pene- 
trated beyond the fatal omen into the dark futurity. The 
weakness of death is falling over him, with the flickering 
light ; his other arm, unmuscular as becomes his vocation. 



284: The Nokse-Folk. 

with the blue veins of age on it, and decorated with golden 
armlets — Odin's golden serpents — the prizes of many chant- 
ings of sagas and war songs, drops relaxed by his side ; his 
breast seems to rise feebler and feebler, a,nd the fatal hour 
foretold by the Nomas will soon be at hand. Behind is a 
mysterious Runic column, dimly seen. The ornaments of his 
harp and of his dress have a wild, intelligent character. The 
colors are fresh as life, still soft and mild in tone. It is a 
picture which you cannot escape from. Whatever you are 
doing in the room, the eyes wander back to that mysterious 
Rune ; you are away in dreams in the dim early ages of the 
Scandinavian peoples, among those wild poets of courts and 
battles, whose wonderful mythology and Delphic poetry make 
a never to be forgotten literature. You gaze exhausted at 
the dying candle, and look out with the old saga-bard into 
the dim unseen, where wild forms of evil and of good pass 
and repass — the Nomas, the mighty Thor, the evil Loke, 
the giants of the frozen North, the awful Midgaard serpent 
which is to swallow all, but where, at length, after the final 
destruction, " a new heavens and new earth shall come forth 
and Baldur, the god of love, forever rule " 

The church adjoining the parsonage is one of the historic 
places of Sweden. Here Gustavus Vasa called the people 
together for insurrection. 

" He bade the old consider well, and the young to inform them- 
selves, what manner of tyranny foreigners had set up in Sweden, and 
how much they themselves had suffered and ventured for the freedom 
of the realm. Sweden was now trampled under foot by the Danes, 



Incomes of Pastoes. 285 

and its noblest blood had been shed; his own father had chosen 
rather with his associates, the honor-loving nobles, in God's name to 
die, than to be spared and survive them. Might they now show them- 
selves men, who wished to guard their native land from slavery, then 
would he become by God's help their chief, and risk life and welfare 
for their freedom, and the deliverance of the realm."— ((rei/er.) 

The building dates back to the twelfth or thirteenth cen- 
tury. Again, we have the interior of heavy round arches, 
meeting at points like the arches of a crypt. On the fronts 
of the galleries were the names of the different clergymen of 
the parish in gilt letters, going back to the Reformation. In 
one corner I saw a number of portraits of the Swedish Kings, 
Charles XII., Charles XIII. and Gustavus Yasa, appar- 
ently laid aside as rubbish. 

iNTear the church, the pastor had built his school — a neat 
dwelling-house, with rooms for the teacher and for one of 
the vicars. There are four clergymen in this parish, which 
numbers 8,800 inhabitants. The chief vicar is called Corn- 
minister, and the others Adjundi. Among the pastors. 
Frost is a higher title than Pastor, and Dam Frost the 
highest under the Bishop. These clergymen in Dalecarha 
are among the richest and most powerful in Sweden. Their 
incomes from the regular tithes, and the gifts of their 
parishioners, who are much attached to them, amount to 
12,000 or 15,000 riks dollars ($3,000 to $3,t50) per annum, 
which is very large for the interior of Sweden. They all 
keep several carriages, and their hospitality is unbounded. 
They are the principal school managers, the leaders of 
education, the chief members of Parliament and legal ad- 



r' 



286 The Noese Folk. 

visers, as well as spiritual directors of the peasants. The 
influences which the clergy in other provinces of Sweden, 
from their lazy habits, and worldly spirit, have lost, these 
still retain. They are usually men of the best culture, and 
of truly democratic feelings — their relation to their flock 
being very familiar. 

A Dalecarlian always says "thou" to his pastor, which 
is like calling a man by his first name with us. A friend 
relates that one of the clergymen in these provinces, who 
was a very distinguished preacher, was too much given 
to strong drink. One Sunday, after a most impressive and 
eloquent discourse, when he had come below in his robes 
to return home, an old peasant, much respected, came up 
to him, and clapping him on the shoulder, said — if we can 
give the equivalent in English' — "Harry, thou preachest like 
a whole-souled man, but thou tipplest like any tavern-keeper." 
This public rebuke is said to have had an excellent effect. 

When once a parish has an unsuitable clergyman, it is very 
difficult to unseat him; and nothing but drunkenness or some 
glaring offence can give sufficient cause to the Consistory to 
expel him. The choice, in the first place, except in the Royal 
Parishes, is directly from the people, but limited to the 
three candidates presented by the Bishop and Consistory. 

This clergyman had done unusually much for education. 
He had twenty-six circulating schools, and two established ; 
though the time spent in school by the children is by far 
too short, being only two days a week for fourteen weeks. 
Their studies are the Bible and catechism, reading, writing, 
and reckoning, and a little history. The Dreacher examines 



Cleric A.L Dignity. 287 

them all once or twice a year ; and though the children 
are not obliged by law to attend school, they are obliged 
to pass this examination before the pastor will " confirm " 
them ; and without confirmation, there is no civil right in 
Sweden. The teachers, again, receive miserable pay — some 
only twelve riks dollars ($3) a year and board. 

As we sat in the roomy "King's Hall" afterwards, over 
our coffee, the pastor, with long pipe, gently puffing light 
clouds out into the summer air, I spoke of the very different 
position of a country pastor in America — ^how much more 
simple and spiritual his duties are. ''Would it not be 
possible here to simplify the Constitution," I said, " dividing 
the Parliament into two houses, and giving, if you desire, 
to the clergy a share in the Upper House ; or, what we 
would consider far better, confining them entirely to spirit- 
ual and moral duties ? Does not this taking part in political 
life injure the spiritual tone of the clergy ?" 

"It often does, God knows !" he answered. "The parish 
would not be so frequently neglected, and the vineyard 
desolate, if our pastors were kept from Riksdag. Still, the 
great interests of the kingdom require a watchfulness from 
the priesthood. The working classes might press us into 
unhallowed courses, if we had no lot in the affairs of the 
state. They are already seeking to take the schools from 
us, and to banish that which is next to the Word of God — 
the catechism." 

" But was not your house of clergy erected in an age 
when the clergyman alone was the educated man of the 
commanity, and when the relics of Romanism still survived 



288 The Ko e s e - F o l k . 

in the public influence of the priesthood ? Is it so necessary 
now ?" 

He allowed that it was not, and that he would gladly 
see a change which would not too much remove the shep- 
herds from their flocks. Still, the clergy must not "lose 
all share in the state. They have a right there. 

'^Yet it is often a grievous burden for us of the other 
clergy," he added. "I pay twenty-four riks dollars ($6) 
a month as my proportion of the salary of our member, 
though he receives no more than the pay of a Bonder by the 
day — four and a half riks ($1,12) — which is little enough 
in Stockholm. But your coffee is cooling I" 

As we sat talking, the young ladies brought in some 
flowers, and I heard them in a discussion. " It is — it is 
the spirea.^^ " No, it is a ranunculus." " Father, is it not 
the spirea ulmaria ?" And the father decided. Some other 
plant was mentioned — perhaps the well-known salix daph' 
noides on the lake — and a careless young medical student 
at once gave the correct name and description. It struck 
me then, as it often did, that botany was much more an 
habitual branch of knowledge with them than with us. 

It may be interesting to know the names of the old 
magical plants of Scandinavia. Those which drove away 
death in the old sagas, were plants that now are not re- 
markable for healing power. The books give them as 
enpetrum ingrum, fragaria vesca, gnapkalium alpinum, leon- 
todon taraxacum, ranunculus hederaceus^ stdlaria vivijlora, 
and vacctnium occycoccos. 



Hospitable Home. 289 



LEKSAND. 

August . — Of all the homes we have visited, this 

parsonage is the most glowing with hospitality and good 
feeling — such great rooms, such loaded tables, and, above 
all, such a stout-bodied, great-hearted host, the Domprosten 

H , who wrings one's hand like a vice, and claps one on 

the shoulder with a blow which shakes you to your boots ! 
" Hah ! Amerikanare ! An American here ! Ha ! ha !" He 
talks to me in French, German, English or Latin, and some- 
times in a mixture of all, and is said to speak Greek as well 
as any. He is well known and much beloved through the 
whole country, and was a successful member of Parliament. 
His parish, as he tells me, contains twelve thousand people, 
and has forty-six schools. 

The sight yesterday morning (Sunday) at his church was 
one of the most impressive I ever saw. I rose at half-past 
six, in a cool brilliant summer morning, and the people were 
even then beginning to straggle into the great church-yard — 
the women arranging their toilettes in the angles of the 
church-walls. At seven, a fleet of boats from various parts 
of the Lake (Siljan) were flashing and ploughing through 
the water, all directed towards one point, and pulling with 
regular strong beat, as in a boat-race. At one time, I 
counted thirty-one large boats, with thirty or forty people 
in each. They were all in costume, and the boats glistened 
with white and red, as if it were some festal procession. 
As each struck the land, it emptied itself of the brilliantly- 



290 TheIToese-Fole:. 

dressed party — the women in broad white head-dresses, or 
in red, and with red bodices ; the men wearing long black 
coats reaching to ttie feet, and black '' Kossuth hats," 
sometimes with embroidery on their shoulders. As they 
came up the hill, with their various colors fresh in the 
morning sun, it made a most picturesque train. Each car- 
ried the psalm-book wrapped in neat cloths ; and those in 
the rear bore the baskets of biscuits and onions for the meal 
after service. 

The men were much the finer looking, though the women 
had most hearty, pleasant, sun-browned faces, with the 
whitest teeth ; while there were some young girls of exquisite 
and regular features. The head-dresses have their peculia.r 
meaning, and are almost a police in themselves. The maid- 
ens wear simple colored bands, the hair braided in a kind of 
coronal ; the wives, white caps ; those in mourning, or 
about to join in the Communion, pointed white flat triangu- 
lar head-tires ; and those who have children, unmarried, still 
another kind of white decoration, which betrays them to 
the whole community, and is one of the strong safeguards 
against licentiousness. Yet few, out of the peasantry, know 
of the exact appearance of this head-dress. 

By eight o'clock, the streets of the little village were 
crowded with a great multitude of peasants ; and it was 
notable how large a part of the place was made up of rows 
of little buildings, used alone as stables or carriage-houses on 
the Sunday. From land and from water, they came pouring 
into the church-yard. Soon a denser crowd gathered around 
a particular spot — a sad procession, with hearse and mourn- 



The Immense Congregation. 291 

ers, entered — the young Comminister read the service over 
the grave, and the whole multitude in the open air joined in 
a grand solemn hymn. 

At the same time, another large company were receiving 
the Communion in one part of the church. At half-past 
ten, when I entered, an imposing spectacle met the eye. 
The spacious church, with the two tiers of galleries, its long 
seats and aisles, was crowded to the full ; the chandeliers 
and little pronged supports black with hats, and every 
available standing-place filled — all by the peasants alone. 
I saw but one European bonnet and gentleman's coat in the 
house. It was a vast array of stalwart working-men, and 
ruddy, sun-burnt women, in their parti-colored, picturesque 
costume. All were there — the nursing child and the hob- 
bling old man — no one was left at home. I saw many 
women suckling their children. The men took the seats 
first ; those who stood up in the aisles were women. Some 
of the mothers were feeding their infants with onions. As 
each person entered, he stopped a moment, covered his face, 
and made the silent prayer. After a little time, a hymn 
was commenced by the congregation — a monotonous, melan- 
choly kind of chant. The organ was a powerful one, but it 
was almost drowned in the surges of sound which rolled up 
from the vast assembly. This was continued a long time — 
through some thirty or forty verses ; while in it all, mingled 
the cries of children, of whom there were so many in the 
church. At length, the clergyman, in black robes, ascended 
the pulpit ; a short, apparently extempore prayer was 
uttered, and the sermon was read. There was profound 



292 The Noese-Folk. 

attention tlirongli the whole audience. After it, a quartette 
was sung with beautiful effect ; and with another long chant 
and some reading of Scriptures, the assembly dispersed — 
many standing without to admire the new crown just placed 
on the Byzantine-like tower ; others gathering in knots, to 
discuss business and village affairs. 

My friends computed that there were seven thousand 
persons present in the church, and this on no unusual occa- 
sion. 

The people have evidently a reverential and devotional 
disposition, and the degree of self-government granted to 
each church, strengthens the interest of the members in it. 
I was impressed in seeing the audience, with the wonderful 
opportunities granted to the Swedish clergy for influence 
over the peasants. In such remote provinces, they are almost 
the sole guides and directors ; there are no nobles, or judges, 
or governors here, and every Sunday, they have these vast 
audiences, upon which to impress humane and liberal, or 
religious sentiments. The Swedes are plainly susceptible to 
oratory ; and there never was such a field for a great 
Reformer as Sweden is now. But who is there who will 
come forward to work it ? 

We are occupying the lower rooms of the Parsonage — 
large, pleasant rooms in one of the houses ; above us are the 
saloons for company. On the other side of the square, is 
the kitchen and servants' house, and on still another side, the 
house for the pastor's family. The doors are all open, and 
m the kitchen department, I observed a number of the pcor 



Sunday Evening. 293 

peasants taking food ; in tlie pastor's saloon a little table is 
bounteously filled, from which we are to take and eat, wher- 
ever we can find a seat. A glass of whisky, and bread and 
anchovies, are offered to each first, as usual. A number of 
persons come in and join us in the meal. The servants bring 
in course after course, in most liberal measure. After the 
dinner, we start for a long walk by the pleasant lake, while 
the Frost goes to the parish-meeting. 

Sunday evening, at the pastor's, is the/e^e-eveuing always 
but more especially now, as they wish to celebrate the 
crowning of the Church tower. 

The large guest-saloons are thrown open, as well as the 
state bed-chambers, and by six o'clock the guests begin to 
come. The gentlemen are in one room, and the ladies in 
another, and as each gentleman enters, he shakes hands with 
the pastor, and then with every other gentleman ; and then 
goes through the ladies' rooms, bowing to each, very low and 
formally, seldom shaking hands. The ladies have a similar 
ordeal — each one bowing and courtesying all through our 
saloon, to every gentleman whom she knows. It must be no 
joke to come late to a Swedish levee. 

I am standing near a lively young gentleman, who enter- 
tains me with descriptions of each new arrival. " There ! 
you see that handsome man with white gloves — that's our 
great singer, from Stockholm ! He led the quartette this 
morning. But there's something for you Democrats ! — you 
observe a very tall man in long peasant's clothes — a Bonder 
— with hair parted in the middle ?" 



294 The Norse-Folk. 

" Yes. Do peasants associate with the upper classes 
so ?" 

" Certainly. He is a delegate to the Riksdag (Parlia- 
ment). A good-natured fellow — rather weak though — the 
nobles lead him by the nose. He lost his election once on 
account of it, and another was chosen, who was so much 
worse, that they were glad to keep this man." 
" " But who are those two men in peasant's clothes, near 
the door ?" I said. 

" Oh they ! — they are the heros du jour. Don't you see 
how every one shakes hands with them ? How awkward 
the poor devils look I They are the workmen who put the 
crown on the spire at last. Dom Prosten (our host) is 
almost ready to hug them — how he claps them ! He is a 

democrat for you ! — But there ! — you see ! — Captain S , 

the gentleman with the moustache, he doesn't shake hands 
with them. He is a noble, you know. Herr Y. and N., 
and all the burgers do at once. 

" It's a singular thing," he added, " those poor fools are 
hardly intelligible to a Stockholmer. I suppose you could 
make nothing of their dialect. I know their jargon now, I have 
been so much among them. The Prost does say though, that 
it's more like the old Norse than any other language now used. 
They have a diabolical drawl. But you snuff, do you not ? 
No ?" He sneezed, and several '^God bless yous, and w'dlbekom- 
mct" at once were earnestly uttered, to which he bowed. 

" Pid the pastor have the crown put up ?" I inquired. 
*'Ack! — no. It was all the peasants, it is their Church, you 
know. But there is a beauty for you I Have you such 



Swedish Jueies. 295 

women in America ?" A light graceful figure— blonde golden 
hair wound over the head — blue eyes — ^features very regular 
— the expression so animated and sweet, and the manner 
singularly kind and genial. Her dress, a white full dress, as 

for a dance. " It is Froken C ." I told my companion 

I found the Swedish ladies of the middle classes, as if some- 
what depressed or kept in the background, and the men not 
especially attentive to them. " You have right," said he, 
"it is so too much, but this charming creature is of a higher 
family. There again ! — there's another of these Bonder, 
you have such an interest for — a fine manly fellow. He is 
the Namndemanr 

The N'dmndeman is a sort of a juryman. In every village, 
the Courts of Justice are composed of a Judge and twelve 
jurymen, who sit at each session of the court, for many 
years.* The Judge always determines the sentence, unless 
the jurymen are unanimous against him ; in that case, they 
can reverse the decision of the court. The jurymen are not 
paid : it is a public duty for every peasant. No other class 
has anything to do with it. The Courts are called Ting — 
the old name for popular assemblies, one meets so often in 
the sagas, and the Scandinavian history. 

I was sitting by the pastor afterwards and asked him 



* The original idea of this Jury seems to have been that it should 
represent the natural equity of a case as opposed to technical law. 
"Because," says an ancient judge, quoted by Geijer, " all cases which 
may arise, cannot be set down in a law-book, but where no written 
law is to be found, men must borrow their decisions from that natural 



296 The Nokse-Folk. 

if he had eyer known an instance of the jurymen reversing 
the sentence of the judge. "Oh, yes ;'Vhe answered, "there 

was a Ting in T village lately ; a criminal case came 

before them. The judge felt himself obliged by the evi- 
dence to decide against the accused, though it was plain he 
felt that he was innocent ; the Namndeman at once reversed 
the decision. Still, they are very often a stupid set. I re- 
member hearing of a Namndeman in P , who went home 

and threw himself down with groans on his bed, " Well, 
we have done a business to-day !" " What is it ?" his wife 
asked, anxiously. "We have sentenced so and so to be 
hung!" '' Ack God! and what for?" "That's what I 
should like to know !" he answered, groaning terribly. 

Generally, the judge does everything, and they only 
listen ; but here's the Delegate ! Here ! — come ! An 
American — let me introduce you !" 

The Delegate being at a loss for conversation, took the 
opportunity to inquire for a Herr L., who had fled to 
America with some stolen property. "You have very 
many men there whom we are glad to be free of!" I told 
him, we could not prevent, of course, the vagabonds of 
Europe from taking refuge there ; and then passed into 
conversation with some others standing near. The man 
was a boor by nature, evidently — and all the Riksdagar 
could not change him. 

law which God hath implanted in our hearts and brains, therefore the 
law-book saith in many places touching doubtful questions, let the 
jury of the hundred (or nsemdemen) examine this!*' — {Geijer, 
p. 85.) 



Tillage Justice. 297 

I was next presented to the Namndeman — a very sensible 
man. The pastor said, " You take an interest in Swedish 
politics. We have still another thing, as good as the Ting, 
you may not have heard of it — our By-ordning. It is a 
sort of assembly, chosen by the peasants, which takes 
charge of the moral matters of the village — a sort of half- 
juridical affair. They try and punish for petty offences 
against morality and law. I am afraid, we shall lose it, 
though ; it is being attempted now to merge it into the 
Courts. Indeed, it has no legal existence — but there's Lieu- 
tenant S . I must meet him !" , 

A friend has since given me an instance of the operation 
of this By-ordning, somewhat characteristic. A Dalecarlian 
maiden returned in the autumn from the usual summer's 
labor in the Capital, and was observed to have a gold ring 
on her finger. A circumstance so remarkable attracted 
the attention of the other peasants ; she was questioned, 
and replied that it had been given her by a gentleman with 
whom she was working. The people doubted, and finally 
she was brought before the Town Council, which, after an 
examination, decided that she should be kept confined by 
her father, and whipped every day until she should confess. 
The father carried out the sentence, and at length she 
confessed that she had stolen it from this gentleman. The 
ring was at once sent back to the owner, with the message, 
that the girl would be prosecuted if he desired, but for the 
good fame of Dalecarlia, they hoped he would drop it, 
which of course he did. 

Punch in small glasses had now been brought in, and 



298 The IST orse-Folk . 

the pastor, with the little cup in his hand, stepped out 
among the company, called for silence, and said, " My 
friends ! I am happy to offer a toast. It is the health of 
the two brave peasants who have given us the opportunity 
of holding this feast ; we all saw their daring on Saturday. 

To the Bonder V and T , who put the crown 

finally on the tower I Skdl /" 

Every one went forward and clinked his glass with those 
of the peasants, saying, Skal ! 

*' Prosten likes the peasants," said a gentleman -near 
me, " and they like him ! Hear him ; he speaks of you !" 
and I heard him telling, in his hearty tones, the different 
groups, ''Ha ! the Amerikanare called the meeting storartaat 
(grand) this morning. Ha ! ha I It is only a spectacle 
to him — and a grand one 1" 

Another toast. " My friends, I have another health for 
us to drink. By Providential chance, a gentleman is pre- 
sent with us this evening from a distant country — America. 
Sweden and the New World are widely separated by 
oceans, and they have different forms of society, but they 
are united in religion and in political liberty. We have 
shown that science, and arts, and freedom, and prosperity 
can grow under a Monarchy, and they have proved it equally 
under a Repubhc ! I propose the health of our American 
friend. May he have from God a prosperous journey I Skdl P' 

Next the healths of the Delegate and Namndeman were 
drunk, then of the ladies and of various gentlemen, and 
now began the dance. The great saloon shook with the 
tread of the dancers. The waltz was the favorite, danced 



The Feast. ' 299 

with great spirit- and life. The Comminister who spoke at 
the grave, and led the communion in the morning, was now 
moving cheerily among the waltzers, though I think not 
dancing himself. 

After the dance, some songs were sung — mostly from the 
people's melodies. They were singularly plaintive and wild. 
The ^^ Necken^^ is one of the most popular. The religious 
quartette was also given again. At ten, we all went over 
informally to the house on the other side of the square, and 
found a large table prepared in one saloon. The ladies 
helped themselves first, and then the gentlemen — afterwards 
separating into different rooms. 

It was one of the hearty old Scandinavian feasts. Dish 
after dish was brought in — meats, puddings, game, pan- 
cakes, milk-soup, salad, grot (or rye mush) and milk, fish, 
cakes and creams ; and everybody fell to with vigor. 
Nothing was drunk at the meal, except the unfailing pre- 
lude of a glass of whisky, until late, when tke servants 
brought in a great silver flagon, with curious ornamenting, 
foaming with beer. This was a gift from a former parish to 
our pastor. It was passed around, each drinking by turn. 
At twelve, the company began to disperse, the hearty old 
Frost giving his vigorous clasp to each hand, with " God 
Natt !" " Guds frid vare med eder I God bless thee I" 
Warm-hearted old man I May his great ruddy face still be 
gleaming friendlily on the poor and rich in Dahlarna ! 



300 ' The Nokse-Folk. 



FAHLUN AND SOUTHERN DALECARLIA. 

Our journey continued the next day towards the south. 
The driver was the owner of the horses, and a very respect- 
able-looking squire. The country along the road, even to 
the Wester Dal, was a pleasant, fertile district, and he 
pointed us out many good fields, which belonged to himself. 
The crops, as usual, were rye, oats, potatoes, and grass. We 
made slow progress, owing to horses not being ready at the 
post- stations, and did not reach Fahlun till five o'clock. 
The approach was through a desolate country filled with 
slag, and breathing out sulphurous smoke, showing the 
neighborhood of the copper-mines, which stretch for miles 
under ground. The first streets were long rows of little 
houses for the miners' families, very dirty and impudent 
little children playing in front — -justifying the popular repu- 
tation of Fahlun for a wretched population. 

The town was filled with sulphurous odors, and vegetation 
seemed much dwarfed or killed through the whole neighbor- 
hood by the works in the mines. 



THE MINES. 

We first went to the edge of the immense excavation, 
where a great slide had been, throwing open, as the books 
say, some thousand feet of the mine. No work was going 
on in this. Our guide brought us dresses and old hats, to 
protect from the drippings of the mine, and we commenced 



Copper-Mine. 301 

the descent, he holding a lighted torch, made of small pine 
links bound together by a copper ring. 

The first passage was simply a dark stairway, with a 
banister. After fifty or sixty fathoms of this, we began 
deep descents by ladders, down through one dark pit after 
another, then into galleries, glittering with ore under the 
torch and dripping with moisture. Our guide stopped us 
occasionally, to take us to the edge of some black chasm, 
and throw off fragments of the burning torch. We could 
see the pieces flash and glimmer, and hear their fall, at 
great depths below. There were various historical cham- 
bers, too, to be shown : " Carl Johan's," where the King 
and Queen had a brilliant dinner, and where his autograph 
is still preserved on the wall, and " Prince Oscar's," and 
others of older date, hollowed out of the solid rock. 

We descended hundreds of fathoms, and followed the 
gloomy galleries for miles, only occasionally seeing torches 
and meeting the solitary inhabitants of these dark caverns — 
yet we did not traverse a twentieth part of the mine. This 
mine dates far back in its history, even to the eleventh cen- 
tury. Its produce, which has much fallen off in modern times, 
In 1853, was 4,2tT skeppund, or about 1, 710,000 pounds. 

There is a mining-school here, where engineering and 
chemistry, and other natural sciences, are taught. 

It is thought that the railroad now being constructed 
between Gefle and Fahlun, will be of great advantage to 
the latter place, in affording a more convenient transit for 
the metal to the coast. For this road, the company bor- 
rowed of the State, $400,000. 



302 The Nokse Folk. 

The population of FaWuii in 1854 was 4,522 
As we were in a hurry, and had a good comfortable travel- 
ling-carriage, we pushed on the same night towards Sala, 
reaching it in the next afternoon. This district is famous 
for its silver mines, of which we visited one, about a mile 
southwest of the city. This mine dates back historically 
to list, A.D. Its produce in 1850, was 3,835 marks. 
The mining population seems a superior one to that 
of Fahlun. The whole number of inhabitants in Sala, is 
8,208. Between this point and Westeras, is a rich farmiug 
country, with very substantial farm-houses. Westeras is a 
well-built town, with some interesting public buildings, and 
a valuable Library. Population in 1853, 4,021. 

The impressions left on my mind by this tour through 
Dalecarlia, are, that in no country of Europe can a peasan- 
try so independent, honest, and virtuous be found. 

This cumbrous Constitution, though blocking now every 
useful reform, has at least preserved the peasant in his 
ancient rights. Having his own House of Representatives, 
his own peculiar privileges, his costume, his church, and 
above all, his local self-government, he has not been crushed 
by the superior privileges of the nobility, or humiliated by 
mingling with classes more cultured and refined than his 
own. He is proud that he is a Bonde. Each man has an 
independent bearing. There has evidently been no serfdom 
or feudalism here. Yet this very isolation and pride of 
class has kept the Dalecarlians ignorant and superstitious. 
The country needs, what all Sweden needs, railroads and 



i 



D ALEOAELIANS. 303 

schools. Its mineral products and lumber should have an 
easier market, and the ingenious talents of the people be 
employed on more profitable manufactures than thej are 
now. The first interest for this province is Education, Give 
such an intelligent population as the Dalecarlians, good com- 
mon schools, and they will be able to accomplish anything. 
There is excellent stuff in the character of the people. The 
country is the New England of Sweden. As in all Sweden, 
much of the progress of the people will depend on the 
clergymen. This body has, as I have already stated, an 
astonishing power in this remote province. If they were 
true to their duties, and had ideas at all corresponding to 
the progress of the age, the Swedish peasantry would speedily 
be in a very different condition. We believe, however, 
that more is being done for genuine improvement in Dale- 
carlia, than in any other rural district of Sweden. 



■1 



CHAPTER XXY. 

VINGAKER. 

In the central part of Sweden, near Lake Hjelmaren, is one 
of the characteristic counties — Vingaker : a land of lakes and 
groves and rich fields, showing some of the best agriculture 
in North Europe. My objects here led me more among the 
gentry and the large proprietors. The peasantry yet pre- 
serve the national costume in the centre of the country, but 
they are by no means so independent or well-informed as the 
Dalecarlians : the explanation for which lies, no doubt, in 
their tenure of land, and their relation to their landlords, as 
we shall hereafter see. I attended one large Church at 
K , where the Bonders were all dressed like a respect- 
able farmers' audience at home, in black coats with gloves, 
though the women had white head-tire instead of bon- 
nets. 



-Y. 



This estate lies in the midst of a pine forest, approached 
by the roughest roads, which wind around among pretty 
lakes and ponds. The first indication of its neighborhood 

804 



A I^ToELE man's Estate. 305 

was given bj some cleared ground, and a neater class of 
peasants' houses. Then came a Church, sheltered in a beech 
grove, and a school, and then an avenue under old trees. 
The house of the proprietor was a long, two-storj stone 
house, painted a grave color, with smaller houses on each 
side of the usual square, and a pretty flower-plot in the mid- 
dle. On the other side was a handsome garden, with very 
rich dahlias and brilliant flowers, laid out in terraces some- 
what formally ; beyond, meadows and corn-fields stretched 
out to the edge of the forest. Again, on the wings, were the 
conservatories for fruit, and the stables hidden by shrubbery; 
and still farther on could be seen the rich masses of the park 
trees. A liveried servant came to the carriage, and took in 
my letter and a card. I was shown into a saloon hung with 
old portraits. Almost immediately a lady entered, who 
welcomed me in French, most sweetly, expressing her regret 
for the absence of her husband. Nothing could exceed the 
grace and simple-heartiness of her manner. She led me to 
the drawing-rooms, and entered at once into lively conversa- 
tion. 

The family is one of the old historic families of Sweden. 
Sir C. has the reputation of being among the most cultured 
public men of the day, and has filled many offices with 
honor 

Everything in the house and surrounding, showed a 
much higher class of tastes than I had yet seen in Sweden. 
The furniture was not costly, but the walls were covered with 
paintings, which any royal gallery of Europe might covet. 

In the drawing-room where I sat were original Cor- 



306 The ISTors e- Folk. 

reggios, WouYermans, Guides, Claudes, and Salvator Rosas. 
In the next drawing-room were celebrated modern works ; 
and in the billiard-room, some animal pieces from Rubens. 
Exquisite bits of statuary from Bissen and modern sculptors, 
were set about here and there ; and in one saloon was 
the unfailing ornament of rich Swedish houses, the cabi- 
nets with curious old china. The library was a gem, such 
as in- our democratic societies an individual can seldom 
possess — old valued Bibles, travels and works of art issued 
by governments, of great value ; books of costly and rare 
engravings, and works on philosophy and science and 
history in all modern tougues, were in the collection, the 
owner speaking with fluency nearly all the European 
languages. I was glad to see that the best of American 
literature was there. 

I asked Lady C. if the ladies read much of our authors. 
"No," she answered, "not much — only your novelistes. I 
am so glad," she added, "that those detestable French 
romans are no more the mode. We get now, in the English 
and American writings, all the amusement we sought in the 
French, with a healthy moral tone. I remember when I was 
young, nothing was read but French, but now I dread to 
put a French author of light literature in my daughter's 
hands. The German is not much read, except by the 
scholars. We find their romances very ennuyantesP 

I inquired, what American authors were most read. 
"Madame Stowe, of course, first; then much now that 
authoress of stories — I forget her name — Wide World and 
Queechy. You know we have now Danish translations of 



Chatting. 307 

all these, and of M. Emerson and Hawthorne. Ah ! what 
a sombre genie is that man — do you know him ? Your poet, 
too, who has translated Tegner — Longfellow." 

I told her that we had other translations now of Tegner 
— of his Frithiof s Saga, which was greatly admired. She 
seemed much interested, but said " I have not seen the 
translation : still it is not possible to translate that. You 
must lose the fine quality." 

According to the universal Swedish custom in the upper 
classes, fruit is brought into the drawing-room about six 
o'clock — grapes, peaches, and apricots from the conservato- 
ries — and then a cup of tea. The party was a most inter- 
esting one, as we sat in the twilight — Lady X., whose 
face still shows, under traces of many sorrows, the noble 
beauty for which she is distinguished ; several spirited 
young ladies, and some fresh, active-looking young gentle- 
men, who have had, evidently, a thorough manly education. 

Something in Lady X.'s feeling gave a sober tone to the 
conversation. The ladies spoke of the position of the 
Swedish woman in society, and how little she exerts the 
influence which belongs to her. "We learn from Mam'lle 
Bremer what your ladies, Monsieur B., do in America. But 
here very few feel the responsibility. We are content to 
enjoy ourselves, and to be admired. Yet, mon Dieu ! what 
multitudes of poor people are around us I Frederika Bre- 
mer has truly labored to give occupation to our ladies, and 
I hope she may succeed I" 

I asked if they had all read her Travels in America. 
" Oh, yes," the young ladies answered in English ; " but 



308 The Noese-Folk. 

tell us, be there so many wonderful people in America ? 
Every one seems a hero to her to be !" 

" It's horribly dull," muttered one of the young men. "I 
never could read it !" 

* * * '^ Have you remarked the similarites between 
our languages ?" said one of the ladies, " especially in the 
Scotch !" 

" He must call for the cork-screw in the next hotel," said 
one of the young men, alluding to the phrase, " Give me 
the cork-screw" {^' Gif mig kork skrufven"), a well-known 
common phrase to Swedish and English. We then recalled 
the common words: ''Bra'hus" {hra hus)^ "reek" (rbk), 
"timber" (timmer) ; " Come, let us go I" {Kom lat oss gd), 
"potatoes" (potatis), "speer (ask)" (spira), "room" (rum), 
and numbers of others. 

I asked about the Danish and Norwegian — whether they 
understood or spoke these. 

"No," said they; "we speak them not often, because 
the Danes and Norrmans (Norwegians) comprehend us and 
we comprehend them, when we converse." 

The conversation turned on the Danish literature, and 
the celebrated Reformer, Kirkengaard. " That is a spirit 
noble and pure," said Lady X. " Perhaps he went too far 
in condemning all the church, because his branch was life- 
less, but he had the true fire within him. I think he has 
done us much good in Sweden." 

" Still, mother, was he not too extreme ?" 

"Yes, he was ; but the sins of his church drove him to it. 
But, Monsieur B., shall we not have a little music ?" 



C O N V EKSATIONS. 309 

Some beautiful national songs were sung, and exquisite 
pieces played from the German classical music. During the 
playing, the physician of the family estate came in, and the 
Superintendent of the Forests, both residing on the property. 

We conversed together of the mode adopted by Baron 
X. in cultivating his estate. It appears that he has put the 
cultivation, as much as possible, in the hands of his tenants, 
not attempting himself much of the labor of agriculture. 
" You must know," said one of the young gentlemen, speak- 
ing in German, "the Baron has given up for ever his jus 
patronatum — that is, the peasants can choose their own cler- 
gyman now. Before, he was the patron, and had the sole 
power. You saw the church and school, as you entered the 
avenue. He built both ; but he thinks it better for the pea- 
sants to have this right of election, and thus far we have 
had no trouble. Leider ! (alas !) it is not always so !" 

I asked about the transmission of the estate. ''S y 

is a fidd commissi he replied ; " but that you may not 
understand. You have a word — ja das ist-es — primogeni- 
ture — the oldest son must have it all, and so keep the 
property together." I asked, if he was obliged to support 
the other brothers and sisters. They answered that he was 
not ; but still the usual custom required that he should give 
assistance to the poorer members of the family, and beside, 
the father commonly bequeathed his personal property to 
the other children. The law gives a peculiar authority and 
privilege to the eldest son ; and it struck me often that the 
son assumes something of a paternal or authoritative rela- 
tion to his brothers and sisters. These gentlemen talking 



810 The ISfoRSE-FoLK. 

with, me were all noblemen, but their views on the Constitu- 
tion I found more liberal than those of the peasants. They 
were in favor of widening the suffrage, and of lessening the 
privileges of the elder branches of the noble families. ''We 
find it absurd, Herr B.," said even the young heir himself 
of this estate, *' that the cajput familice. (the eldest son) 
should alone have the right of sitting in the Riks stand. 
He may be a stupid dolt, or he may not have the leisure, 
and tnen he must give or sell his seat. 

" Many of us are in favor of doing away with the whole 
cursed system of the Four Houses, and having a simple 
Parliament of Two Houses. It takes an age for any liberal 
bill to get through. The parsons like one thing, and the 
Bonders another, and the citizens and nobles are against 
them both perhaps. The conservatives with us are the pea- 
sants and the clergy. Those parsons lead the Bonders by 
the nose. We might have had good railroads and schools 
years ago, if it had not been for the verjluchte (cursed) stu- 
pidity of those Bauer ! Sacra-ment ! it makes one groan I" 

I mentioned the instance of Capt, B., who owned a fine 
estate, and yet had no vote. 

" Ja wohl ! — there it is ! Such a wretched arrangement ! 
The men of property and intelligence shut out, and the 
clod-breakers voting ! There ought to be a law admitting 
all to suffrage, in some one class, who own land. It is just 
as stupid in the cities. There is Doctor S. and Prof. N., 
you know them — they cannot vote, because they are not 
Biiri^crs (citizens or members of a guild). Bien ! — it is a 
slow wcrJd 15 ere !" 



i 



Quiet. 311 



11 



Pardon, Messieurs ! Souper !" said Lady X., taking mj 
arm, as the servant opened the doors. The customs here 
were much the same as in other classes, except that the 
meal was simpler. Bread and butter, glasses of milk and 
pan-cakes, were the whole, we helping ourselves generally, 
without aid from the servants. Every body was in high 
spirits, and much fun was going on. 

The most remarkable thing to an American was, the evi- 
dent contrast between the ladies of the party and the ladies 
one meets generally in the middle classes. A certain expec- 
tation or graceful habit of receiving little attentions, as if 
their position to the other sex were long secured ; and a 
style of information and conversation, even if not indicating 
talent, yet showing an habituation to world-subjects — these 
were the distinguishing qualities, and which at once brought 
me back to our intelligent American society. This contrast 
in Swedish society, is by no means so apparent between the 
men ; indeed, the gentlemen of the middle classes are supe- 
rior to any in the kingdom in thorough education, and quite 
equal in refined habits. I was impressed here with the influ- 
ence of quiet. This gem of a home, placed in the midst of 
forests and mountains, containing in itself the influences 
which educate and ennoble, had shed a certain light of peace 
and repose on its inmates. There was no vulgar strain 
after effect, or restlessness, or hankering for the excitements 
of cities, but that species of calmness which arises from long 
habituation to nature and to a residence in the same home. 
It may have been fancy, but these seemed to me the excel- 
ling traits over our American homes. Afterwards, in a 



« 



812 The ISToese-Folk. 

walk in tlie park with one of the ladies, I spoke of this, and 
asked what they did in the winter ; whether they ever found 
it dull. " No never," she said. " We ride in slada — what 
call you it ? — sleighs, and we have little dance amid the 
neighbors — ^you know there are some neighbors, and we read 
and talk much, and sew, and have musique every evening. 
Then we do go sometime to Stockholm, but I am fatigued of 
it. There we dance every night, and go to Court, and to 
suppers and balls, and I am glad when it is over. We go 
not again soon." 

'' Yes : you have reason. There is nothing like the old 
home. I know every old tree here, and the lake there, and 
the walks, ever since I can remember I was here ; and there 
are the same peoples, the servants and gardeners, and my 
dog and my pony are almost so old as I. Yes — I do hope I 
will never leave it I" 

The hours for retiring seem very early in Sweden, at 
least in country-houses ; we have supper usually at eight, 
and bid good night at nine. Then with breakfast at half- 
past eight or nine, there is a long night for all. These suf- 
ficient rests in their chambers must add much to this effect 
of repose on the character. My fancy impressed this all 
abundantly on me, and the long calm line of historic faces 
which looked on me in the neighboring chamber, as I entered 
mine, did not lessen it. They seemed to say, " No vulgar 
activities, no modern restlessnesses here I They do not enter. 
Be calm ! You are in the shadow of the Past !" 

And in the stillness of the night, sunk in the comfortable 



The Watch-Song. 313 

bed, the musical voice of the night-watchman, who patrols 
the estate, seemed to strengthen the security. 

"G-ud bevare vart 
Hus och land 
Fran eld och brand ! 
Klockan elfva slageni" 

" God keep 
Both house and land 
From ill and brand ! 
Eleven o'clock 
lo sti-iking I" 



14 



CHAPTER XXYT. 

THE MANORS OF SWEDEN. 

There is something impressive in all the northern nations, 
in their respectful salutations morning and evening ; the 
'' Grood night !" " May yoii sleep well !" or " Good morn- 
ing !" and the almost anxious inquiries, " Have you slept 
well V^ — forms which every one makes a religious duty to 
observe. The " God bless you 1" when you sneeze, is a part 
of the same. This is a healthy race and it makes much of 
the body : these formalities come from times when there 
was truly a terror by night, and to see the morning safely 
was something for gratitude. Then, as Emerson says, each 
one comes to the others every morning, as a "new stranger 
from a distant clime :" that is, without straining the impulse, 
there is an element of genuine Courtesy in these trivialities 
— a coming out of one's personality to recognize the person- 
ality of another. And it is Just such petty habits that tend 
to cultivate one part of politeness ; they aim to guard and to 
respect personality. The higher part — of self-sacrifice, — 
these are merely a path towards. 

Our breakfast again was a cheerful, pleasant meal — very 
much like an English breakfast, with tea, coffee and cold 

314 



A Country Squire. 315 

meats ; our hostess showing us the same peculiarly kind 
courtesy as before. Liveried servants were in waiting. 

Afterwards we walked out in the park, which was a pic- 
turesque grove of old trees, with a lake, but not well kept. 
The whole estate consists of about 20,000 Tunland (about 
15,000 acres) much of it in forest. 

V 0. 

My hostess kindly forwarded me in her own travelling 
carriage to her neighbor, Herr T., to whom I had letters. 
His position, again, is peculiar to such a country as Sweden. 
A large proprietor, on an estate which he and his fathers 
have occupied for generations — a gentleman, much travelled, 
speaking many languages, yet an alien still in political 
rights. The property was a beautiful one, much more so 
than those of the nobility ; placed on the banks of a large 
lake, with groves on each side, and terraces of beautiful 
flowers and shrubbery running down to the water's edge. 
It is wonderful how the dahlias grow here — such pure rich 
colors I never saw on them in America. 

The approach to the house was through a fine avenue of 
beeches and oaks. The house was in the usual style — of 
two stories, with a great number of rooms, opening into 
each other on the ground floor. The furniture, very rich, 
with a few paintings — no carpets, and the flooring, parquette. 
The windows had a beautiful outlook over the lake. 

Herr T. showed me over the property. In one part was 
a school which he had founded, as the other proprietors have 
done, - The peasants' houses seemed very comfortable — bet- 



316 The Koese-Folk. 

ter than those in Dalecaiiia. T. says that the people are 
now in process of transition from Bauer to gentlemen, and 
they feel very self-important. 

In the garden, I noticed an old scraggy oak, much decayed, 
and said something of it 

" Ach !" said he in German, " there is a story about that. 
It is a habitation-tree.^ I can't get it cut down !" 

"So ! How do* you mean ?" 
- " There has been a long time a superstition about that 
tree among the Bauer, that whoever should cut it down or 
injure it, should certainly suffer harm — I suppose from the 
Troll or fairies. When I came into the property, after my 
father's death, I ordered the tree to be cut down, as it is in 
the way of my garden, and looks, as you see, rather unsightly. 
But no one would do it. I tried one and another, and at 
last a young Bauer attempted it. He worked awhile one 
day, and the next day fell sick, I induced another, and 
after a little, he became ill and finally died. The rumor 
was spread through the whole country, and I was much 
blamed by the Bonders — so that finally I gave it up — and 
there you see the tree I The Bauer find the fairy-rings f 
now on the grass often !" 

* The habitation-tree (botrad), in the heathen times of Scandina- 
via, was thought to be inhabited by a certain elf, who would protect 
it and reward those who took care of it. 

f Luxuriant grass made by the dancing of the elves — the cynosurus 
cceruleus. Hear Olaus Magnus on this : 

" OF THE NIGHT DANCES OF THE FAIRIES AND GHOSTS. 

" Also travellers in the night, and such as watch their flocks and 



i 



Caste. 317 

I told Mm I wished we had such tree-fairies in America. 
They would find most humble worshippers there. 

* * * * I made some inquiries and remarks about 
his political position. *' Yes, that is true," he said. " In 
that sense, I am not a citizen. The Bauer, whose cabins 
you saw, can vote, but I cannot. You know why. I am 
not of noble birth — at least Swedish, and I am not a Bauer. 
It makes little diflference to me, though*. I have my own 
affairs, and do not care for politics." 

" Why not be a Bauer ?" I said. 

" Gott hewahr ! No ; it would be disagreeable to them 
and to me." I wondered the country had not demanded a 
change. ^^ Ja! wir sind langsam ! We are slow — slow, 
here ! It must be changed, though, before many years." 

In the evening, I was presented to the ladies. The cur- 
herds are wont to be compassed about with many strange apparitions 
As King Hotherus (so Saxo reports) following three nymphs to their 
caves, obtained a girdle of victory from them : yet sometimes they 
make so great and deep impression into the earth, that the place they 
are used to, being only burnt round with extream heat, no grass will 
grow up there. The inhabitants call this night-sport of these mons- 
ters, the dance of fayries ; of which they hold this opinion, that the 
souls of those men that give themselves to corporeal pleasures and 
make themselves, as it were, slaves unto them, and obey the force of 
their lusts, violating the laws of God and men, when they are out of 
their bodies, and wander about the earth. In the number whereof 
they think those men to be, who even in these our days, are wont to 
come to help them, to labour in the night, and to dress horses and 
cattle ; as I shall show hereafter in this very book, concerning the 
ministry of the devils." 



318 The Nokse-Folk. 

rent language was French— as is usual, a French gouver- 
nante residing in the family, though there were no children. 
In inquiring about the pastors, and their relation to the 
people, I found the same feeling which seems almost uni- 
versal through the middle and upper classes — of utter dis- 
trust and dissatisfaction towards their religious teachers. 
They sjDoke highly of a gentleman (Captain H.), who had 
been building a little Chapel for his workmen, and laboring 
among the Lasarne. '' He may be a fanatic, but he is 
sincere, Monsieur ! But these men — they have no belief ! 
It is an affair of the pocket. Look at Doctor S., at N. 
He is known for an Infidel, and says openly, the Bible is 
a myth, but still preaches and gets his tithes. Our pastor 
here, is nothing but a very genial gentleman. He has his 
12,000 riks ($3,000) a year, and that is all he cares about. 
He knows no more of the spiritual matters of his people, than 
if he were a thousand miles away. There is a droll story 
between him and the peasants lately — they bear him little 
love, you understand. He demanded of the Socken-st'dmma 
double windows for winter, in his parsonage. They refused 
to supply them. He argued and threatened, and at last 
had to get them himself — at the same time saying, that 
when he went away, he should take them with him. They 
replied, that there would be no need ; for when he v/ent, 
he would go where there would be no necessity for double 
windows I — implying they should never get rid of him till 
he went to a rather warm place !" 

* * * * I yfOiS installed at night in a very com- 
fortable guest-house, and the next morning was driven over 



Castle S. 819 

by the gentleman himself, with a handsome pair of horses, 
to Count B. of S. Castle. We stopped on our way to see 
a clergyman, to whom I had a letter — Dr. X. He speaks 
English perfectly — a most jovial, sociable gentleman. He 
is said to be very old, but springs about like a young man — 
attributes it all to his "never having had any regular 
habits !" — called his vicar " the old man," though he is 
ten years younger than himself. He took us to his Church, 
one of the famous churches of Yingaker, having an assem- 
bly often of three thousand people. There was a catechi- 
sation going on of school-children, in the vestry-room — 
the same dull, mechanical teaching of so-called " Religion," 
which one finds everywhere in Sweden. Dr. X. is some- 
thing of a scholar, and is still engaged in literary works ; 
he gave me a new derivation of " Viking." 

•^i^ ^s^ %i^ ^^ «^ ^^ 

^S ^J* ^^ *^ *^ ' ^^ 

Castle S. is famous through Sweden, and I only in- 
tended visiting it, as one of the public sights, as I had 
no letter to the Count and I thought my friend would not 
be on such terms with him, as to introduce me familiarly. 
But to my surprise instead of delivering us up to a ser- 
vant, the Countess herself, with the most simple and sweet 
courtesy, showed us slowly through the apartments where 
the pictures were. A most choice collection, gems of art 
and historic association. Rembrandt, Claude, Lely, Dome- 
nichino, Guido, Correggio, Salvator Rosa, with fresh modern 
works from Swedish artists. The common drawing-rooms 
and saloons for the family were set with these beautiful 
adornments — works whose feeling and beauty must grow 



820 The JSTorse-Folk. 

in impression on one, as do glimpses at home of exquisite 
aspects of nature, seen day by day. Bach room had a 
little catalogue of the paintings. We visited beside the 
conservatories and orangery, and finally the great library. 
The Countess courteously invited and even pressed us to 
dinner, which we declined. The library must be one of 
the richest private collections in North Europe. It seems 
in bad order just now, though the Count has a scientific 
librarian constantly employed. After much searching we 
found one of the books I was in quest of — the first Bible 
(probably) printed in Sweden, bearing date " Upsala, 
1541." There were some splendid collections of engravings 
and travels — the " Yoyage to Iceland and Scandinavia," 
in which M. Marmier took part, issued by the French 
Government. I think the large editions of Humboldt's 
Travels were there, and other works of the kind, which 
usually only National Libraries can possess. If any con- 
noisseur in sketches should visit Sweden, he should certainly 
inquire for the ^'Teckningar om Asarna, by Wahlbom" 
(1834.) They show great power. 

I found a fair representation of American Literature — 
among others, Hildreth's History. I made out, at the 
Count's request, a brief list of our best late works in his- 
tory and politics, for the new additions to his shelves. So 
much time was spent over this rare collection, that we 
accepted per force the cordial invitation to dine. 

I was shown to one of the , state bedrooms to dress. 
Each room is numbered on the door. The style of furniture 
is almost palatial. The dinner was more like our city din- 



Aet of Dining. 321 

ners of style, than any I have yet seen. It is the only table 
in Sweden where I have observed more than two kinds of 
wine. The table was beautifully decorated with flowers and 
fruit. Here, as elsewhere, the old Scandinavian custom of 
the whisky and bread and butter and cheese first — the 
ladies being helped before the gentlemen. Even the chil- 
dren had their slices : though very few took the whisky. 
There was no other company present — a family party, with 
the teachers, governesses and physician only. Three ser- 
vants were in waiting. The lady helped the soup, and the 
servants carved the meat, and then a platter with slices, 
after the German style, was handed to each person. This 
is certainly the true mode for a dinner-party. It is remark- 
able how much better all the Europeans understand this art 
of eating and dining, than we do. One is often at home so 
bored with questions of, ''Is your meat right ?" "Will you 
have it well done ?" " Will you have celery ?" etc., etc., that 
all conversation is blocked. You want good eating, but 
you want it as it were unconsciously — as a side-dish — an 
entremet to the conversation. The intercourse is the first 
thing ; all else is subservient to it. Whatever turns away 
from free, easy conversation, is a defect in your dinner, 
and of course bad cookery or unsavory viands do that. 
They distract you, disagree with you and annoy your host- 
ess. First, good nourishing dishes, well cooked — which 
means always simply cooked ; then easy attendance, like 
this Swedish mode, which does not interfere witii your talk; 
and — assuming, of course, that you have an intelligent com- 
pany — you have the components of a dinner-party. 

14* 



322 The ISTo e se- F o le . 

There seems to be no toasting in the Swedish parties, 
such as I saw in Norway. Indeed, I never saw wine-tables 
where so little is drank. The most seem only to sip. Some- 
times the host asks to drink with a guest, but the latter is 
not obliged, as he was ten years ago, to empty his glass. 
At the close, the host fills his glass, looks around, and the 
others who choose, fill theirs, and with a bow to him drink 
or touch their lips, and rise. The company stand a moment 
with folded hands, and then each takes his lady back to the 
drawing-room. There the guests bow and shake hands with 
the hostess, thanking her for her hospitality. Coffee is 
always served after dinner. 

In our conversations, we spoke of the clergy, and I found 
the same serious dissatisfaction with them here as every- 
where. The Count thought that the support of the clergy- 
man should come from the State, and then he would not be 
falling into these eternal bickerings with his people for every 
dollar of his stipend. It appears, he is entitled to certain 
fro rata portions of the produce of his parishioners, and 
also expects gifts to a large amount ; so that, from this 
man he claims his one-tenth of corn, from that his one-six- 
teenth of barley, from another his two chickens or leg of 
mutton, or eggs, or flax. Where there is love to the pastor, 
these all come in gladly and easily ; but where there is not, 
he must be continually on the lookout, lest he lose some- 
thing. When a poor creature comes, inquiring what he 
shall do to be saved, his first thought may be, " You owe 
me seven bushels of rye !" or, '' Have you paid in your pro- 



LiFELESSNESS OF ChuECH. 323 

portion of mutton yet ?" and he must follow up each, of these 
little perquisites, or he will lose the major part of his salary. 
"Monsieur B.," said the Count, in French, very gravely, 
"il y a un soif dans les cceurs du jpeujple — there is a thirst in 
the hearts of the people for true Keligion, and they cannot 
satisfy it with such teachers. The holy office becomes a 
means of support only ; and the preachers are rendered 
covetous and greedy. We need a different mode of collect- 
ing their salary, and a different relation between the people 
and the pastor." The lady, too, with fewer words, expressed 
even deeper discontent at the state of the Church. I did 
not agree with their remedy, but did not discuss it. They 
spoke with much appreciation of the gentleman whom I was 
hoping soon to visit — Captain H. "He may be a Method- 
ist (Lasare)," said the Count, "but he is a true Christian." 

The estates of this family contain their tens of thousands 
of tenants. Countess B. had the sense which a true noble- 
woman should have, of her responsibility for the poor and 
ignorant under her control. I described to her the plan of 
our Industrial Schools in New York, and I think she saw 
that some such thing was necessary among the poorest pea- 
santry here. 

The parting with us was peculiarly graceful and kind. 
We drove to the estate of a gentleman to whom I had a 
letter, a man who has taken a prominent part in the modern 
history of Sweden. 



324: The Norse-Folk. 



COL. A 'S ESTATE. 



It is a quaint old place, on a property which indefatigable 
agriculture, under-draining, clearing woods and careful sow- 
ing of crops have redeemed from the pine forest and swamp. 
The barns, with high peaked gables, were even more con- 
spicuous than the house. This was long and low, and near 
it were some fine old trees. We entered an octagonal room 
hung full with pictures. 

The Colonel was a dignified old gentleman, who received 
us with great hospitality — like many of the public men in 
this country, a man of various accomplishments. I have 
already visited a number of gentlemen, prominent in political 
life, who sketch and draw with talent — some of whose works 
are engraved, and command a good price. At Baron Y.'s, 
I found the whole early history of Sweden, illustrated by 
his own hand, and already lithographed ; the Sagas, too, 
had been represented by him, with great boldness and talent. 

Such accomplishments, when one considers what those 
men have done, show a higher style of public men than one 
usually finds in America, or even in England. 

Col. A. had a prominent part in the Revolution which 
overthrew the king, Gustavus IV. Adolphus 

The Colonel again had some beautiful works of art — of 
great value, It is a wonder how these collections have been 
made in Sweden. Except in Vienna or Italy, there can be 
few collections more valuable in Europe. 



The Estate. 325 

My host showed me over his property ; the barns were 
large and well kept, but with nothing peculiar in the ar- 
rangements, except the great furnace under one for drying 
the grain. His crops are mainly wheat, rye, oats and grass, 
with large fields of turnips for cattle. In his stables, were 
some very fine Normandy horses, pure white, of large heavy 
frames. The prices, I think, were not very high for these ; 
If I understood aright, not more than two hundred and fifty 
dollars for a gelding of first quality. There were some other 
horses of English blood. Bach horse had a separate little 
enclosure with a lock. 

We found again a school and church, built by the land- 
lord, for his tenantry. 

I regretted extremely that my limited time kept me from 
making the nearer acquaintance of this gentleman. He im- 
pressed me as a true, modest, noble-spirited man, with whom 
only to meet, is something to be gratefully remembered. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE COUNTKYGENTRY. 

L . — At this estate was a school, which I had greatly 

desired to visit, and as the proprietor was a remarkably in- 
telligent gentleman, I spent a part of a day there very 
agreeably. Capt. H., again, is one of the non-voting pro- 
prietors, though very rich, and having a thousand tenants 
on his estate. The property is a beautiful one, far better 
kept, and with more natural advantages than the estates of 
the nobles, near by. The avenue was through rocks and old 
oaks. The houses, built in the usual form, low, and very 
neatly painted and begirt with flowers, were on the banks 
of a pretty lake ; a rich, terraced flower-garden was in front. 
The saloons and the furniture seemed very costly and rich, 
though but few paintings were on the walls. As I saw in 
this case but little of my host's interior arrangements, I 
may take the liberty to speak here of the astonishing back- 
wardness of the Swedes in practical conveniences. 

There is hardly a house, palace, or cottage in all Sweden, 
with a bed-room bell, or a bath-room, or an outside bell, or 
speaking-tubes, or dumb-waiters, or any of the little modern 
labor-saving contrivances in American houses. If you go to 
a friend's house, you pull about the handle of the door, 

326 



House- Keeping. 327 

stumble in the hall, as hall-lights are equally discarded — 
rap your knuckles sore, and often at last go away, utterly 
baffled at arousing any one. In your own bed-room, you 
must often shout out of your window, to call any servant. 
If there is a bell in the hall, it communicates usually with 
the court-yard, and awakes the whole family and all the dogs 
of the neighborhood, if you ring it rashly. It excited great 
surprise when I said, that our city-houses in America, and 
the best in the country, had now as a mecessity, their one 
or two bath-rooms, and hot and cold water in every bed- 
chamber. There are, at the present time, in Sweden, only 
four, o^^t^^Dossibly five cities which burn gas — Grottenbufg, 
Stockholm, Orebro, Norrkoping, and I thilik Lund. Hardly 
one has good side-walks, and a day spent on foot in the 
streets is really torturing. The principal conveniences, as 
compared with those in American houses, are in the warm- 
ing apparatus, which consists umiversally of a large brick 
stove, prettily covered with white porcelain. This, with 
little fuel, gives out a mild, equable heat when closed for the 
whole day, or open makes a cheerful fire, like the old- 
fashioned fire-side ; and however used, produces an infinitely 
better atmosphere than our furnaces, with their blasts of 
fiery air, destructive to brain and lungs. 

There is also in the Swedish kitchens, a kind of roof over 
the range or stove, such as I have described in Norway, 
which carries off the odors and fume, so that one is not at 
once, on entering a friend's house, saluted with the exact 
components of the dinner, as in some of our houses at home. 

Our host, Capt. U., walked about with me over his estate. 



328 The Noese-Folk. 

He has an extensive farm, with the usual crops. The barns 
were very large, with some fine cattle in the stables. Hear- 
ing me express an interest in the different costumes of the 
peasants, he said to one of his workmen, who was in the 
cattle-yard — " Hey ! Gustav, bring up three or four Bonders 
in wedding-dresses, to-morrow morning to the Hall, at seven 
o'clock. An American gentleman wants to see them I" 
The man looked puzzled, but took off his hat and said he 
would. We walked on to the park ; on the way, a peasant 
was about to drive from a cross-road over our path. It 
would just have been quite as convenient for us to wait for 
him, but my companion shouted sternly, '' Thou ! — hey I 
Stop there !" — and the man stopped submissively, though 
sulkily. We were evidently not in Dalecarlia. '' You have 
no idea, Herr B., of the Dummheit (stupidity) of these boors" 
said the Captain, in German. " I have tried to do some- 
thing for their education, and I think I succeed, but it is 
slow work." 

" Are there many free-holders among them. Captain ?" I 
asked. " No," said he, " the most belong to the land, and 
pay their rent in labor or in produce." 

" You do not mean that they are serfs," said I. 

"Ach neinP' he answered, "there are no Leiheigem (serfs) 
in Sweden — ^but these men, or rather their fathers, have, as 
it were, bought their lands on a perpetual rent. They are 
owners, as long as they pay their yearly Abgahe (tax), but 
if they fail to do that, the land falls back to me. I have 
some Fr'dhe (regular tenants) beside, who have hired their 
land of me, and pay annual rents." 



Classes of Peasants. 329 



BONDERS. 

It will be in place here, to mention distinctly the different 
classes of peasants or Bonders. It should be remembered 
that, as in Norway, there was strictly no feudal system in 
Sweden. At the end of the tenth century, Sweden appeared 
like a union of various confederations of freehold peasants 
under a nominal king at Upsala. The first confederation 
being of a hundred families or haerads ; then of several 
haerads, making up lands or provinces ; and finally of the 
provinces or nations to form a kingdom. The first Bonders 
were all owners of the soil, with certain obligations to the 
king : but gradually some of the weaker began to come 
under the power of the stronger, and free-holders became 
tenants. Then the large estates of the leaders and nobles 
were let out on a long lease to their followers ; or the pro- 
perty of the crown was farmed by peasants who had been 
faithful to the king ; so that at length, three very distinct 
classes of Bonders began to show themselves, along with 
smaller subdivisions. 

First, The Skatte or free-holders, owners of their lands. 

Second, The Frdlse Skatte, or Bonders who have bought 
their properties of the owners, but who pay for them in an 
annual tax — ^holding them under a kind of perpetual lease. 

Third, Frdlse, or mere tenants, who pay for their farms 
annual rent of labor, produce, or money. 

There are, besides, Torpare, or Bonders, who rent small 
pieces of land from other Bonders, and pay by labor ; and 



330 TheNoese-Folk. 

there were formerly ^/em-Bonders, who were bound by 
law to give so much labor to the estate, and who were 
exposed to much cruelty. 

I asked the captain, in our conversation, if it was not 
generally true that the tenant-Bonders were much inferior 
to those who owned their properties. He thought that 
they were. '' The tendency among the Bonders everywhere 
now, is to own their farms. In many cases, large properties 
of the nobility have been bought up by the peasants. And 
as no nQ^ Jidei commiss^ (entailed properties) can be formed 
since the law of 1810, the large estates dwindle away. We 
do not find the small properties owned by the cultivators so 
good for the great improvements in agriculture," he added, 
'' but they certainly make a better class of people — such as 
those you saw in Dalecarlia." 

I asked- how the nobility bore these encroachments of the 
peasants. 

*' It is something disagreeable," he answered, " but they 
can not help it. There is Baron P, — a gentleman I know, 
whose whole property of some thousands of acres is being- 
bought up by the Bonders — and what is more, they get 
FraUe Hemman by this {i. e., estates freed from the old mili- 
tary taxes). You know, since 1809, any one, noble or not, 
can own such tax-free properties, if he can buy them. So 
you see, we are equahzing ; but I am sorry to say, these 
Bonders become cursed aristocrats, and without the Bildung 
(culture) of the nobles. But here we are in the park !" 

Our walk had brought us to a stately grove, of consider- 



A New School. 331 

able extent, laid out on the banks of the lake, with walks, 
and arbors and boat-houses. 

We spoke of his school for the peasants. " The truth is 
Herr B.," he said, " I was driven into that school by the 
stupidity of the clergy. We had too much catechism in the 
schools !" 

I told him, my own observations confirmed what he said. 
Everywhere I found a mechanical drilling in the words of 
theology and certain dry facts of Biblical or Jewish history 
— and this was dignified with the name of " teaching 
religion," though it evidently had no more connection with 
religion than with topography. Religion was never taught 
in such memorizing, technical lessons — and indeed, I believed 
even the immortal freshness of those divine narratives might 
be dulled and begrimed to a child's mind, who was forever 
conning and repeating them, as laborious parts of a school 
exercise. 

"I have opened a school," he said, ''where some prac- 
tical lessons shall take the place of a part of this learning 
and repeating the Catechism. I felt that for the Bonder's 
child, one of the first things is to have some good means 
of support for the future. I have introduced, accordingly, 
trades ; cabinet-making, carpentry, and such things, and 
have them regularly taught. You shall seesome of the spe- 
cimens, presently. The children do them wonderfully well." 
"Do you not meet with much opposition from the clergy?" 
I asked. 

He replied that he did ; some cried " Infidel 1" still he 
was determined to carry the thing through. If the people 



332 The Norse- Folk. 

were ever to be enlightened, the schools must be a little 
more in harmony with the times. The priests seemed to 
think nothing was for a moment to be compared in impor- 
tance with their catechisations. 

I told him, that we in America believed the main religious 
instruction must be given in the family, or in Sunday 
Schools, and not in day-schools. We spoke then of books. 
I said that I thought one of the worst indications of the 
intelUgence of the Bonders, and the greatest obstacle to 
their improvement, was the want of books among them. 
I had been in many Bonders' cottages, and had scarcely ever 
seen any book but the Bible, or occasionally a volume of 
sermons, and the people seemed to have very little taste 
for reading. I had thought of one plan, to publish a weekly 
edition, for instance, of the AftonU'ddet of Stockholm, which 
should have well-arranged information, and should be sold 
cheap, and try to scatter it among the great masses of the 
peasantry. 

" You have touched precisely on what I have been so 
long laboring at !" he answered. *' Ach ! it is hard to cause 
these people to read I I have bought the ' people's books ' 
which we publish in this country, but they cannot read 
them ! They are too high above them ! Then I tried 
histories, and I found that some, especially about Swedish 
battles, they would read, but not many. Then I got this 
' Reading Magazine for the People,' which you will see 
in my office. That they sometimes can understand." 

" Will they not read Miss Bremer ?" ' 

'' No. She is not easy enough. Your English books 



Libraries for People. 333 

are much better suited for us, if they were only translated. 
Something strong or imaginative, but very simple, would 
be the thing." 

" Are there not authors who write for the people ?" 

"Jo\ (yes,) but they fly too high. You know that 
gentlemen instructed in Education are trying in Stockholm 
to get up such books, and they have a plan to collect 
libraries there, which they will distribute in the various 
parishes needing them. Gott sei Dank ! that something is 
being attempted. And the armen Kerle (poor fellows) are 
truly eager to read good books, I have opened a library 
here, and all the simple practical books, travels and such 
like are continually taken out. Your plan is a good one 
about the weekly paper, if it could be once well-started ; 
still it must have pictures. But here we are at the house I 
I will send for the models our boys have made." 

After a short time, the servants brought up some baskets, 
with wooden models of ploughs and harrows, etc., and 
with little horse-shoes and basket-work, which they had 
manufactured. This industrial feature in the common school, 
he said, was quite new in Sweden. 

In the house, afterwards, we met a very lively party — 
the family — tutor, and some ladies, with a few gentlemen 
from the neighborhood. 

There was some talk about driving me over the next day 
to a nobleman's residence, to whom I had letters of intro- 
duction. My host was engaged, and the question was whe- 
ther some of the others would go. They were unwilling, 
and it was finally arranged that I should go by myself. 



334 The Norse-Folk. 

" Frankly we must tell you/' said one of the gentlemen to 
me, '' we have nothing to do with Count W. We are inde- 
pendent men, and we will never associate where we are 
looked upon as inferior. He is a great Lord, and we are 
nothing ; but we have our own place and we are content 
with it, and we will not invade his, nor he ours." * * * 

It is an incredibly agreeable thing to an American in. 
Europe, that he can utterly ignore the distinctions of 
society. If he has education and the refinement of gentle- 
men, there is nothing to prevent his associating on an equal- 
ity with princes ; and at the same time, he may have social 
chats at peasants' firesides and count any worthy man of 
any class his friend. He has no fixed position ; no title to 
herald him (if he be not by wonderful chance Colonel or 
Major-General) ; no weight of aristocracy above him, or 
immeasurable distance below him. If he be a gentleman 
and make no claims, passing himself simply for what he is, 
he will be so received by all classes and his position in 
European society will be the most sensible and agreeable 
than can be imagined in this conventional age. 

* * * * * :Ji :jc 

I was curious to know whether these gentlemen felt the 
anomaly of their Constitution, which prevented them from 
voting. They spoke of its absurdity and injustice, but I 
think they cared very little for the loss. 

I found them much interested in our tremendous struggle 
in America. They could not doubt of the victory of the 
Free Party. "Your country marches on, sir," said one, ''it 
must finally free itself from this disgrace and clog. But it 



N Markiage-Dress. 335 

is a fearful question. We are watchiug you." Much more 
was said, showing the intense sympathy and anxiety with 
which the Europeans regard our struggles. 

Our conversation lasted till a late hour, when I was 
shown to the guest-house, where a bright fire was lit in my 
room, though it was only the beginning of September. In 
the morning, the servant who brought my coffee, announced 
that the '^ Bonders had come." I hastened out to the other 
house, and there, in one of the drawing-rooms, the four 
peasants in wedding costume were standing sheepishly to be 
looked at. The costume was highly-colored and pictur- 
esque, with many peculiarities borrowed from the modern 
Greeks, our host said. The women had red and white 
head-dresses, reddish bodices with white skirts and half- 
mantles ; the men, white coats with embroidery and gilt 
upon them, belts about their waists, and, I think, leather 
trowsers, ornamented. 

What struck me more than the dress, was the evident 
position or relation of these people. They were Bonders, 
but a very different class from the Bonders of the North. 
No reward could have made a Dalkarl exhibit himself and 
his wife thus at the word of command. But this gentle- 
man had ^'hestalt en Bondquinna" (ordered a peasant) at 
a certain hour, as we would a horse. The difference lies 
mainly in the different effects of freehold property and 
tenant property on a poor class. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



<5REBR0, AND A MODEL FARM. 



I SPENT but a short time at Orebro ; the inn being the 
worst I had found in Sweden. My room was a kind of 
ante-room to another chamber, where slept two travellers, 
and was also peculiarly frequented by fleas. 

The new parts of the town have a pleasant appearance, 
and have been built since a fire a few years ago, which 
destroyed about one third of the place. The Parliament 
loaned the corporation 215,000 riks dollars to assist in 
rebuilding the city. It is a town of some manufacturing 
importance, containing twenty factories. A telegraph con- 
nects it with Stockholm, and a small railroad is being built 
between it and Hult. Population in 1850, 5,lti. 

From this point, I set out to reach the place of Cap- 
tain H., of whom I had heard so frequently, both for his 
skillful agriculture and his enthusiastic labors among the 
peasantry. 

To reach his estate, I had a slight experience of Swedish 
means of communication. In Orebro, no travelling vehicle 
was to be hired or borrowed, though it is a town o£ some 
five thousand inhabitants, so I was seated in a little spring- 



Model Farm. 337 

less cart — like the rag and bone carts of New York — and 
with a little post-boy by my side, began the journey. 
The road was a much travelled highway, but no public 
vehicles ever cross it — indeed I believe there are but two 
or three lines of stage coaches in Sweden — and with delays 
for horses, we were six hours accomplishing the eighteen miles , 

The entrance to the property was through a pine wood, 
little improved by art, but forming for nearly a mile a very 
picturesque approach. The house was on a little knoll, hid- 
den by trees, and we wound through a handsome avenue of 
beeches, passing a grass-grown ruined gable (the remains 
of a monastery) before we reached it. It was a plain, 
sensible building, of two stories neatly painted, with a 
fiower plot between it and "the guest-house" on the other 
side of the usual square. The barns and out-houses were 
concealed (contrary to the usual custom) from the buildings, 
by shrubbery. The view from one side of the square, was 
of an English landscape — a lawn, another avenue of trees, 
a building among the trees, and below without separation 
by fence or hedge, beautifully-rolling grain-fields as far as 
the eye reached. 

This farm had, like those in Norway, the picturesque 
little bell-tower on one of the buildings ; a thing which 
should be imitated by our American farmers of taste. 

The host met me with great cordiality, on learning my ob- 
jects. I found him a cultivated gentleman, speaking several 
languages. After some conversation on his peculiar efforts 
for the peasantry, he took me over the farm. It is a truly 

model farm, such as is hardly to be seen elsewhere in 

15 



338 The ISTokse-Folk. 

Sweden. It covers about 2,300 acres — much of it, when 
the present owner took it, marsh-land and uncultivated. 
IS^ow he has it thorough-drained, by tile and stone-drains. 
One hundred and ninety acres are in wheat, thick, full 
grain, of a quality which last year gave Captain H. a first 
prize in the Paris exhibition. The yield, if our reckonings 
of Swedish and English measures were correct, was about 
thirty-two bushels per acre, weighing sixty-four and a half 
pounds per bushel. There were other immense fields of 
turnips of the best quality, and of Oats, clover and grass. 
All were bounded by ditches, — hedges, as he explained, 
collecting the snow and killing the neighboring plants in the 
spring. For a similar reason he had adopted the English 
division of " lands " — now I believe beginning to be aban- 
doned in the Scotch farming — in order to drain the snow- 
water from the surface. He took me to see his new Eng- 
lish drilling machine (Garrett's), worked with a pair of 
horses by three men. In another part of the field, Scotch 
harrows of a new construction were at work, and in still 
another, the best Scotch plows. A number of women were 
also employed in breaking clods. In the barns was a large 
threshing machine, driven by four pairs of oxen, witli con- 
necting pulleys for even draught ; Scotch winnowing ma- 
chines and horse-rakes were also employed. Reaping ma- 
chines he greatly needs, but the difficulty thus far has been 
that the wheat is often so much laid and tangled under 
the rains that no machines he has seen are fully adapted 
for it. • There is no country where quick reaping is so impor- 
tant as in Sweden, for the weather is very uncertain, and 



The Cattle. 339 

the summer short. (We have frosts now every night, though 
August has a week yet to run.) In his barns, he pointed 
out as an experiment, which was quite strange in Sweden 
— the use of shingles instead of thatch or slates on the roof ! 

The stables were built on the latest approved plan, with 
drains for urine, stone troughs for water, and apertures from 
the hay-loft above, and a little contrivance of his own, to 
keep the cattle from drawing their food under their feet. 
There were stalls for 100 cows. These were feeding between 
two fields of oats, with nothing to keep them from the crops 
but a cowherd with a little white, snarly dog. Capt. H. 
assured me, that this dog could drive the hundred cows in a 
lane not ten feet broad, right through grain fields, without 
their doing the least injury. It was certainly the most 
beautiful herd of cattle I ever saw — all Ayrshire cows of the 
first quality, not very large, but so tight-skinned, small- 
headed, with straight back, muscular fore-quarters and full 
dew-laps. Many were mottled with white. 

Twenty are owned by the government ; which intrusts them 
to this gentleman for the sake of improving the breed in 
Sweden. All he is obliged to pay as rent is the price of one 
bull-calf a year. Two-year old heifers he sells for about 
$111; bulls for $200. The butter and cheese he sells in 
Stockholm. 

In the horse-stables we saw some noble white Normandy 
horses, the same breed which the old knights favored, and 
which Wouvermann so often paints — a ponderous, strong 
breed, and with them a few Norwegian horses. 

The wages of his laborers he thinks now high, in propor- 



340 The JSTokse-Folk. 

tion to the cost of living ; yet he pays only an average of 
16 cents a day, and food. It was formerly 12 cents. His 
cowherd — a very valuable man — gets $25 a year and board 
The whole number of men employed is between 80 and 90. 
Several of his workmen are soldiers — (he himself was an 
officer, ) and he related to me many interesting facts of these 
men, which I will mention afterwards, in connection with his 
more important works. The grooms in his stables were also 
some of them old cavalry soldiers. 

He considers his experiment in " high farming " thoroughly 
successful. The peasants laughed at it at first, but they 
are glad now to imitate it where they can. His property, 
which he bought for about $25,000, he holds now worth at 
$100,000, I have no doubt, he has given an impetus to the 
agricultural improvement of all Sweden. Such men are public 
blessings of such a country as this. This gentleman, again, 
with all his interests in the country, has no vote and no 
share in the political affairs ! He does not belong to any 
one of the four classes I 

His efforts in another direction beside agriculture are 
equally remarkable. He is a gentleman of education and 
of fortune, but has had the courage to leave his old associa- 
tions and to violate public propriety under the impulse of 
his conscience. He is a Lasare,* or " Reader," which, to 
most Swedish ears, has a sound as horrible as " Socinian," 
or ^' Shaker," to most American, 

* As a sect, the Lasare may be said to date back to the middle of 
the last century. 



**The Eeaders." 341 

In the beginning of our walk over his fine property, I had 
observed a very plain wooden building among the old trees: 
so exceedingly bare and simple that I remarked it, and 
wondered that he did not break the outline at least, by 
some cupola or bell-tower. ''That is my chapel," he 
remarked, " and I am obliged to make it as unlike the 
churches as possible, in order to avoid any trouble from the 
clergy." Here, every Sunday afternoon, when the church 
service was not held, he assembled the country people, sim- 
ply to hear the Bible read and explained. One old woman 
walked thirty-one miles, the men fifty and even sixty miles 
to attend this service, where the only exercises besides were 
singing and a prayer. He had commenced first with daily 
prayers among his house people and workmen, who num- 
bered about sixty, then went on to Sunday services, and 
now every Sabbath afternoon for two or three hours, nearly 
a thousand of the poor peasants were present, listening most 
eagerly. As I went around among his fields, he pointed me 
out one and another, whom he thought greatly changed in 
life since this began. " You see that tall man there, 
driving the machine — he is a soldier — I knew him when I 
was in the army — a violent, cursing fellow. He is so differ- 
ent now — I really believe the truth has taken root in his 
heart. 

" There's another — ^the man hoeing. He was greatly 
given to brandy and other vices. He came of his own 
accord to the * reading,' and one day I took occasion to 
speak of the sin of taking the communion-supper in the 
church, merely because of the law, when the heart was full 



342 The JSToKSE-FoLK. 

of evil. The Spirit seemed to bring it home to this man, 
and he was deeply affected, and now he is known as an 
outwardly good man. I believe he has the true Life in 
him." 

I asked Capt. H. how he was induced to begin this. It 
is not proper to state all the causes which led him to these 
works, but the principal were those which, in every country, 
cause the human heart to feel the deep things of life — pri- 
vate sorrows. He was besides staggered and discouraged, 
as a master of a household, by the general licentiousness of 
his servants and of the country peasantry. The usual 
moral motives and influences seemed mere straws against 
the currents of passion and habit. The Church did nothing. 
His pastor was a very kind, jovial country gentleman. But 
with ten thousand riks dollars a year, a good farm, and 
placed for life, how was it to be expected he should make 
himself uncomfortable, with such questions from poor lust- 
beset peasants, as, " What shall I do to be saved ?" or, 
" Who will deliver me from the body of this death ?" 

Probably, kind man ! he gave the fellow a glass of beer, 
and told him to come and repeat the catechism at the next 
church-examination. 

The Captain's earnestness, and an impression with the 
peasants that he really believes what he says, has probably 
taken the place of much theological training. However 
that be, they come, and from great distances, to the unpre- 
tending service, and he thinks they show good practical 
effects. 

The whole thing has made a great sensation in the coun 



HeMONS TRANCES. 343 

try. The clergy oppose it bitterly. It is opening tlie flood- 
gates to dissent. Substantial squires laugh at a gentleman^s 
turning Methodist ! — and building his own chapel. The 
bishop has visited him and investigated the matter ; he fears 
that it may be illegal, and that Captain H. may expose him- 
self to prosecutions. The Captain replies respectfully that 
he is simply instructing his own workmen in rehgious truths, 
at hours when they were usually carousing, and that if 
others choose to come, he cannot conscientiously prevent 
them. He does not propose to break off from the State 
Church, but only to fill out its instructions in this plain way. 
" Then," says the Bishop, " you should be ordained as a 
clergyman." But the Captain does not at all feel himself 
adapted or educated for that ; so at length the Bishop 
retires, very courteously discomfited. Captain H. has also 
had a conversation with the Ministry of Public Worship at 
Stockholm. These gentlemen are obliged to allow that, as 
yet, he is not going beyond the pale of the laws — so for 
the present, Lasarne will not be broken up. In addition 
to the chapel, Mr. H. has a school on his estate, as is the 
custom with the large landed proprietors. 

My visit at this hospitable home was delightful. One 
takes away from such places a purer and better atmosphere. 
A few words with any man who really holds himself in the 
presence of the Unseen, and lives for it, is the best sermon. 
To my own mind, there is something unnatural in this speci- 
fying and cataloguing the events of the soul's life, even as in 
the outward life, as my friend did in his conversation. It 
is dangerous besides — yet here, where for a time the soul 



344 The Norse-Folk. 

was more a reality than tlie body, and people were aroused 
by mighty truths before hidden, one could pardon and ap- 
preciate it. 

Captain H.'s enterprise, humble as it is, is another of those 
grand evidences which meet one continually in Europe, of 
the irrepressible demand of the human soul for religion. Rich 
priestly garments do not satisfy ; catechisings, liturgies, 
communion-suppers are not enough ; jovial clergymen, hos- 
pitable parsonages, a recognition of the Church in every act 
of civil life, do not meet the soul's hunger. Moral essays 
and the "Ten Commandments" learnt to a satiety, and 
catechisms oft-repeated, are not sufficient to restrain the 
surging lusts and passions of the heart. But at length, a 
man without surplice or cassock, with no help of organ or 
paintings or architecture, opens the old unworn story of the 
E-edeemer and under the light of great truths, talks quietly 
and earnestly. It is all real to him. He has proved it in 
the storms and when the floods of great waters were on 
Mm, and the people believe ; they flock to him ; old habits 
are changed : Love beams where Selfishness was ; the great 
truth that man is to look out of himself, and so cease to 
count his petty virtues, and to love and depend on the 
higher One — the Redeemer, works on the soul as it has 
done in every age, and of itself spreads the very air of purity 
and morality in the foul heart, where before every effort at 
self-redemption had been in vain. This is the despised 
Laseri at present in Sweden. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

AN OLD CASTLE. 

The next morning I was forwarded to Count X.'s 
estate, in my friend's carriage, the horses being suppUed 
at the post-stations. The entrance of the property was 
through an old stiff ayenue of beeches, perfectly straight, 
leading to the front of the castle. It is remarkable 
how poorly placed and ill-kept are many of the estates 
of the highest nobility in Sweden. The rich middle-classes 
seem usually to possess more tasteful properties. Here, we 
came first upon the barns, brick buildings with high pointed 
gables, not at all screened ; then to a mill, built upon what 
was the old moat probably, now a rather unseemly weed- 
grown stream. There was nothing of that nicety of care, 
one sees in such places in England ; but the broad, carefully 
ploughed fields on each side, and the herds of Ayrshire and 
Durham cattle on the meadows, showed the owner an agri- 
culturist, perhaps more occupied in that direction at present 
than in beautifying. 

September . — I am in a comfortable old bed-chamber 

on the ground-floor, looking out on the court, which is 

15* 845 



346 The JSTorse-Folk. 

enclosed by two brick wings with little Gothic turrets. An 
ancient clock is in the centre, and the date says 1642 — pro- 
bably the date of the restoration of the building. My 
room opens into a huge dining-room, not now used appa- 
rently, and lined with old portraits. There is a heap of 
new books in their paper wrappers, unopened, on one of the 
side-boards, just as they have been sent from the agents and 
publishers. A servant in livery in the hall, has especial 
charge of me and my wants. It is two o'clock, and we are 
having the hour to ourselves to dress for dinner. 

I have already made the friendly acquaintance of a very 
enlightened and generous-minded lady. Countess S., visiting 
the castle. She has resided long in Germany, and we have 
many subjects in common. High rank with her has not 
had the common effect, of contracting the mind and sympa- 
thies. Her album has the most interesting collection of 
historic names and personal memoranda from great men, I 
have ever seen. One from Bernadotte struck me : 

" Celui qui sert Phumanite et qui la defend merite le titre 
de citoyen du monde." 

Bernadotte was an orator always, and something of the 
elation of the French Revolution seems to run through all his 
sentiments. She says his conversation was one of the most 
interesting she ever enjoyed, and when, after dinner, the 
ladies were in one circle around the Queen, taking coffee, 
they were often really listening to the King, talking to his 
circle of gentlemen. She has in her book, bars of music 
from distinguished composers, sketches from artists, and 
even poetry and music from the present princes. One 



The Saloons. 34T 

gentle song she treasures, from the young Prince not long 
deceased, whom all Sweden yet mourns, the favorite of 
the whole line — Prince Gustaf, second son of the present 
king. 

I have been kindly shown over the castle by Countess S. 
Three large saloons — those most used by the family — were 
filled with costly paintings. Here as so often in the 
rich houses of Sweden, I have been surprised at the rare 
collections of art. Even the English castles, especially in 
the medieval art, are not superior ; and only some Austrian 
and Italian private collections can be judged finer. Guide, 
Rubens, Caracci, Rembrandt, Wouvermann, Poussin, and 
numerous others — each of which is a gem. There were 
also pretty collections of China. Plate is not shown, as 
it is in England, or perhaps not so richly possessed. 
The rooms were usually uncarpeted, with parquet floors : 
furniture solid and tasteful, with now and then some antique 
oak or walnut piece, quaintly carved. The bedrooms have 
very heavy hangings over the beds and at the windows— 
the pillows and all being covered with red-drapery. The 
charm of the whole was in the antique grandeur of the 
apartments, and the historic air from the portraits. Each 
room had its paintings, and its ancient faces, connecting the 
Present with the far-away Past : sweet womanly looks, 
cheeks fresh as if copied yesterday, stern and manly coun- 
tenances, and one or two crowned heads — for the family 
numbers -these among its ancestors. 

In one wing was a very pretty library and study for 
the Count. The collection of books was by no means 



348 The Nokse-Folk. 

equal to those in the other castles and halls I had 
visited. 

The antiquity and the association with the past seemed 
gradually to affect one's mind, and as we passed out of an 
old saloon with portraits, into a sombre bed-room, hung 
with ancient paintings and engravings, I hstened almost 
unsurprised to a story of the lady's about this very room. 

She was sleeping there, she said, one night, as she had 
often done (though never since, thank God !), her maid 
slept in a little tower adjoining, when suddenly, in the 
middle of the night, she was awakened by three distinct 
raps on the panelling of the chamber. She raised her head, 
thinking it was the maid, when she heard them again on 
the opposite side, towards the saloon. She looked there, 
and the door was open, and against the light of the win- 
dows within this room she saw a white mist drifting in, 
which seemed, as it approached her, to assume a gigantic 
human form. She tried to shriek, but her throat could 
not utter a sound ; she gasped, and at length had strength 
enough to drop her head on the pillow, when she felt a 
cold sensation pass over her neck and shoulder, as if an 
icy hand had touched her. She nearly fainted — but at 
length in her exhaustion, slept. The next morning, she 
questioned her maid, but the woman had heard nothing ; 
when she went down to breakfast, she told her experience to 
the old Countess A., whose son is the lord of the estate. 
This lady turned very pale, but made no reply, and the 
subject was never alluded to again between them. The 
next day, she happened to journey away, and when she 



Ghost-Stories. 349 

returned, she took care never to sleep in that chamber 
again I 

I asked her if she had ever spoken about it to others, 
or had ever heard any legends, which might account for the 
spectre. 

She said, she once asked Colonel F., a friend of the 
family, if anything had happened :o him at P. Castle ? He 
shrugged his shoulders mysteriously, and said he should 
never sleep at P. Castle again ! 

It appears in olden times, a very wicked woman lived 
here, who was thought by the peasants to have sold herself 
to the Evil One ; and when she died, a puff of white smoke 
was seen to issue from one of the castle windows. This 
bed-room was perhaps her room. . 

I heard another instance lately of these interesting ex- 
periences among intelligent people. 

A lady who is descended from the famous family of Oxen- 
stiern, told me that while in her castle at W., she observed 
one day the workmen making some repairs in the walls 
of one saloon, at the command of her father, and that they 
Lad placed a valuable painting on the floor. She was fear- 
ful some injury might happen to it, and she said to the 
workmen that they could hang it on an unoccupied nail 
in her chamber. The picture was a portrait of the old 
Chancellor Oxenstiern. On the other side of her chamber, 
though she did not then observe it, hung a portrait of 
Queen Christina. Now, as is well known, there was be- 
tween these two during life a most bitter feud, which was 
never reconciled. This did not occur to her, however, and 



350 The Nokse-Folk. 

slie undressed and retired to her bed as usual. In the 
night, she was aroused suddenly by a curious rustling ; she 
listened, and it evidently came from the wall where the 
picture hung. She raised her head, and gazed at the old 
portrait by the light of the night-lamp, when she heard 
distinctly proceeding from it, a deep, hollow groan — ^then 
another — and then a third. She was fearfully alarmed, but 
really had not strength to shriek, and her room was at 
a distance on one wing of the castle, where she could only 
arouse people by an alarm-bell. She thought of arising and 
fleeing to her maid, when suddenly again came the sepul- 
chral groans. She could not stir ; her voice failed, and 
at length she fell back exhausted — to sleep. The next 
morning, nothing seemed moved or different in the picture, 
"but I assure you. Monsieur B.," said she, " I removed the 
portrait at once to another room, and I have never been 
troubled with anything of the kind since I But, it was 
horrible !" 

A servant announced dinner as we were sitting in the 
drawing-room, and another opened the doors from the great 
hall into the dining-saloon. All stand a moment by the 
table, with hands folded ; then, with the usual obeisance, 
we take our seats. Two or three servants are in waiting. 
There is very little formality and no display — a pleasant 
family-table — the ladies not in full dress. Some beautiful 
dahlias make the principal ornament of the table. A pre- 
paration of sour milk and a soup is handed first to 
each to choose from, then fish, a kind of sturgeon, then 



Dinner. 351 

quails, and pancakes, and another dish of meat already 
carved. Only one kind of wine is passed. The children 
sit at the table with their governess ; our hostess the 
Countess, is a most affectionate, careful mother. The con- 
versation at table is almost entirely in French or German— 
the company, as usual, using the language of the guest, 
even for their own intercourse. 

The German lady, who has so kindly been my chajperon 
thus far, talks to me in under-tone of the society of 
Sweden. 

" The ladies are shut within their cliques too much," she 
says. " They do not see enough of the world, and one does 
not find the spirit of humanity enough among them. To me, 
the air is dose among them. They speak languages, and they 
read, but they have not many thoughts, and it is hard to in- 
terest them in anything — stUl they are sufficiently amiable." 

We spoke of the morality of the higher classes. She 
thought there had been a great improvement since the acces- 
sion of Carl Johan (Bernadotte), The old French indiffer- 
ence and sensuality had much passed away, under the 
citizen-king and his family. " Yet there is a great deal of 
Leichisinn (laxity) among the young men. I have seen such 
fortunes wasted among them !" 

At the close, according to the usual custom, we stand a 
moment for silent thanks, and then go carelessly to the draw- 
ing-room, where each shakes hands with the hostess, and 
thanks her. 

Coffee is served up, and we chat and listen to music, until 
a walk is proposed. The grounds are singularly poor and 



352 The Nobse-Folk:. 

formal for sucli a property, the main attention evidently 
being given to the crops. As is universal with the gentry, 
there are hot-houses and orangeries and wall-fruits. The 
peach and apricot will sometimes ripen here against a wall, 
but more generally they are kept under glass. The princi- 
pal superintendent met us — called "Inspector" — who has 
the charge of the place, apparently a very sensible, well- 
informed man, and treated very politely, by the ladies. 
The tenantry on the estates of Count X., number about ten 
thousand. 

On returning to the drawing-room at six o'clock, fruit i^ 
served — grapes, peaches and melons. 

We are called to supper at eight o'clock. The Countess 
makes tea, and we each eat a little bread and butter and 
cheese, standing ; then sit down, and one or two light dishes 
are handed by a servant — pan-cakes and a dish of milk. JS^o 
one takes more than one cup of tea. 

It should be noted, now that I am cataloguing small 
customs, that this is almost the only table in Sweden, where 
I have seen salt-spoons or at dinner, finger-glasses. While 
we are eating, the children come around and bid us each 
good night, and are taken off by a servant — their little rosy 
faces quite melancholy at the cruel word '' bed-time." 

We sit a little while in the drawing-room after supper, by 
the French lamp, and although the castle is miles from any 
post-office or town, the Stockholm papers and letters, and 
some telegraph-dispatches are brought in. They read to me 
with much interest the American news, and the slavery 
question, and Fremont's chances are eagerly discussed. 



Aerangkments. 353 

Among the despatches, the Countess read one indifferently, 
that the young Princes from the Court were to pay them a 
visit on the following Saturday. My partings were most 
courteous and kindly from the ladies, and it was arranged 
that I was to be forwarded to the next post-station in one 
of the Count's vehicles, and thence by post-carriage to 
N . 



CHAPTER XXX. 

NORRKOPING. 

As I was waiting for my carriage at the first post-station, 
a young gentleman, wrapped up in a pelisse, and just about 
to enter his own carriage, which was at the door, said sud- 
denly in English, '' You ride till Norchoepping, sir ?" 

I answered. Yes : after a few pleasant words, he pro- 
posed an exchange — that I should come in with him, and 
his maid should go on in the other vehicle and meet us in 
the city. I accepted without ceremony, and we were soon 
rolling easily off in a most elegant little turn-out, with a 
mustachoed coachman in top-boots on the box. My com- 
panion was a young nobleman, travelling across the country 
some two hundred miles, with his own horses. He was a 
fair type, I suppose, of the majority of his class — intensely 
patriotic, a little bigoted both in politics and religion, not 
remarkably cultured, of serious turn, and with a very gener- 
ous spirit of courtesy and hospitality. 

We spoke of the Russian and English war. "Ah ! such 
a blunder as was that I" said he. " We had only to throw 
ourselves in and Finland could have been certainly re-taken. 
Such a chance to drive those cursed Russians for ever out I 

854 



A KiDE. 355 

But we waited, and we negoced, and it was in fine too late. 
It will never come again — such an opportunity. We all 
would have enlisted, to a man. To be sure, we have not 
so large an army as the Russians, but every one knows one 
Swede is worth of three Russians. Look at Pultowa !" 
And he hummed fiercely — 

" Ur vagen Moscoviter ! 
Friskt mod j gossar bla !" 

" Out of the way ! out of the way ! ye Muscovites 1" 
Up and at them ! up and at them ! boys of blue 1" 

This gentleman again was of the younger branch of a 
noble family, and shut out from many of the privileges of 
nobility ; but he informed me that, through the favor of a 
relative who did not want to take his seat in the Parliament, 
he expected to sit. " Ah, yes," he said, " our Constitution 
needs much rebuilding. It is the priests who are in the 
way. The King is in favor of all rational reforms — he is a 
good king — such a king no country ever had ; but these 
clergy — they are always in fear for the Church." " Know 
you," he added, "that in many province, the paysans are 
already buying the property of the nobles, and unless some- 
thing be done to give all out gentry a share in government, 
we shall have nothing but pretes and boors to rule us !" 

I found that he had the same feelings about the formalisin 
of the clergy and Church, which prevail every where. 

" We want the Reformation," he said, " as much as they 
did in Luther's time. You know Dr. B., of Stockholm — • 
such men never preach the Gospel. It is not the doctrine 



^56 The ISTokse-Folk. 

of grace and faith, but only works, works ! How they hunt 
Gapt. H., where you were, merely because he is a truer Pro- 
testant ! May the Devil confound them all !" * * * 

We spoke of America, of which he knew very little. I 
think he inquired if we had not recently abolished slavery ! 

Learning my objects of studying the condition of the 
people, he was very anxious to take me with him to his 
father's, Baron H., in Smaland, whom he was going to visit. 
He said that the Baron, like Capt. H., had erected a church 
for the people and had called in a schoolmaster from the 
peasants, to preach to them. Crowds came from a great 
distance to hear him, and yet it was nothing but a simple, 
earnest exposition of Scripture. His invitations were the 
most cordial, but I finally concluded that the excursion 
would take me too much out of my route. We reached 
Norrkoping in good time. 

This town is one of the leading manufacturing places of 
Sweden, for woollens and cotton. I never saw a more 
cheerful and picturesque manufacturing city. The streets 
are broad and clean, and through the midst, a beautiful 
stream, with broad reaches and flashing water-falls, runs 
merrily, giving the great water-power. Some of the views 
on the bridges of this river — the Motala — are exquisite. I 
met here also some very agreeable and cultivated men of 
business. 

SWEDISH MANUFACTURES. 

The value of all the manufactures at Registered Factories 
in Sweden was — 



Yalue of Manufactures. 357 

In 1839 * $5,439,123 

1846 , 7,084,947 

■ 1848 8,368,348 

1850... 9,891,072 

1852 9,859,524 - 

1853 10,151,724 

COTTON. 

Raw Cotton — Import in 1853, 9,883,572 pounds — exceeding that of 
previous year by 1,247,041 pounds, and of 1850 by 5,200,000 pounds. 

Twist — 1853, manufactured in Sweden, 7,715,961 pounds, mostly 
of numbers under 26, and valued at $1,655,336. In 1852, 6,653,790 
pounds, and value, $1,467,950. 

Cotton and Linen manufactured in 1853, valued at $346,886 — 
exceeding 1851 by $82,000. 

TOBACCO. 

Import of unmanufactured tobacco, in 1853, 4,831,638 pounds; 
excess of 1852, 413,722 pounds. 

Import of manufactured tobacco, 66,588 pounds — more than one 
half from United States. In 1853, from United States, 3,107,193 lbs. 

COMMERCE OP SWEDEN. 

Imports from United States — Tobacco, rice, cotton, oil, sugar, cof- 
fee, cocoa, spices, dye-woods, resin. 

Value. 

1840. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1849. 
$450, 156... 346,000... 450,000... 760,000. . .1,070,800 

EXPORTS. 

Iron and Tar to United States — 

1840. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1849. 

$1,029,796 . . . 388,000 . . . 886,400 . . . 1,002,400 . . . 730,800 



358 The Norse-Folk. 



BRANDY CONSUMED. 

In 1851, 30,000,000 galls, per annum — 9.1 for every human being! 
The consumption is much less now. 

DUTIES. 

Cotton (raw), free. Cloth less than 76 threads to an inch, and 
width less than 6 quarters, fordidden. 

White cloth, per pound, 1 riks banc (40 cents) ; printed, per pound, 
1.04 (41 cents). 

Yarn, undyed, per pound, .04 (1 cent); Turkey red, .8 (2 cents); 
Woollens, .2 (one-half cent). 

The iron-trade has increased immensely this year (1856). 
The value of exports and imports is equal to $50,000,000, 
or nearly double that of 1853, and one third greater than 
that of 1854. The customs' revenue alone from this article 
is about $3,500,000, which is beyond any previous years by 
$1,600,000. The annual export of bar-iron is about 80,000 
tons ; to the United States, (about) 13,333 tons. By the 
Decree of December, 1855, the export-duty on bar-iron was 
abolished, which would mate a loss of some $40,000 in the 
annual revenue. Pig and ballast iron, export and import, 
pay a duty of 40 cents on a skeppund.^ 

Seven eighths of the iron-export business to the United 
States is done by Messrs. Naylor & Co., New York. 

* About 266 pounds. 



. CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE SWEDISH SCHOOLS. 

From JSTorrkbping I returned to Stockholm, where I spent 
my time especially in investigations in the Swedish Schools. 
The American friends of Education will be glad to hear of 
a vigorous progress in the modern school-system of Sweden. 

The first organized popular school in Sweden may be 
considered to date back as far as 1646, when the Bishop 
Rudbeckius, at Westeras, commenced his labors in this 
direction. The first practical instruction for the teachers 
was arranged in 1690. About this time, a general law 
was passed, forbidding any one to take out a license to 
marry, who could not read the catechism. The laws whicli 
followed, relative to the examination of the children, who 
were about to be confirmed, and the custom which requires 
every one to be able to read, before he can receive the 
confirmation, and thus be a citizen, have caused for some 
centuries a very general knowledge of reading and writing 
among the Swedish people. 

The last ordinance passed by the Parliament in June, 
1842, establishing schools in every parish, has been pro- 
ductive of much good. Before this, there were small " circu- 

359 



360 The I^oese-Folk. 

lating schools " in each district, passing from house to 
house, but the teachers were poor and poorly paid, and the 
accommodations miserable. Now, each parish must have 
at least one established school, with a Normal School for 
teachers, with proper rooms and conveniences. The pastor 
exercises a careful supervision over it, and himself examines 
the pupils twice a year. The difficulties in the way of the 
country-schools have been in the lack of interest among 
the people, the poor state of the Teachers' Seminaries or 
Normal Schools, and the scattered condition of the popu- 
lation. In a parish reaching twenty miles, with 10,000 
people in it, it became almost impossible for all to attend 
a school at one point, so that the Government has been 
obliged to allow the pastors to open circulating schools. 
It will be remembered, in Dalecarlia, in the parish of Lek- 
sand, I found thirty circulating schools, with one established. 
Great efforts are now being made to advance this whole 
subject. At the head of the movement is one of the most 
enlightened men in Sweden — a gentleman favorably known 
in this country — Mr. Siljestrom, of Stockholm. His work 
on the "Schools of America" has been invaluable for Swe- 
den. He is now getting out a book with the plans, etc., 
of our latest improvements in school buildings. It was 
often said to me that Mr. Siljestrom was doing more for 
education in Sweden than all the Committees on Education 
of the Riksdag for the last quarter of a century. His great 
efforts now are to awaken interest in the public mind on 
the subject, and at the same time to improve the education 
of teachers. He is also seeking to form parish libraries 



School- Houses. 361 

all over the kingdom, through some central agency in 
Stockholm, as at present the mass of the peasants read 
nothing but the catechism and an occasional newspaper. 

The school buildings which he took me into in Stock- 
holm seemed equal to the best of our city schools, with 
large airy rooms, good light, and means of ventilation, 
and improved seats, though I think I saw none of the single 
iron seats.* 

Those in the country were generally dwelling-houses, where 
the teachers resided, but were provided also with suitable 
accommodations. The great defect is the poor pay of the 
teachers — some in the country not earning twenty-five dol- 
lars a year beyond their board. This is collected by taxes 
on the parish, laid by the town meeting of peasants. With 
new interest and enlightenment, the scale of reward for such 
services will rise. 

Charity Schools.— Oi these there are not many. I visited 
two in Stockholm, two in Gottenburg, and one near Lund, 
and a few private schools on gentlemen's estates. 

The defects in them, as in the public schools, lie as I have 
so often indicated, in the too great value attached to tech- 
nical religious instruction — the catechism taking the place 
both of usual school studies and of genuine religious in- 
spiring ; so that the effect on the minds of the pupils seems 
to be a stagnation of the intellect, and a substitution of 
words for the feeling of religion — ^the catechism becoming 

* I am informed by Mr. Polman of New York, that he has re- 
ceived orders from his friend. Mr. S., to send out to Sweden this 
spring various iron seats and tables. 

10 



362 TheNokse-Folk. 

a kind of Protestant bead-telling, like that, of use in remind- 
ing, but inspiring no life. 

Normal Schools. — Both Gottenburg and Stockholm have 
schools for the training of teachers ; still the system of 
teaching is poor, and the quality of teachers sent out is 
generally very inferior. There are also such schools in some 
of the smaller towns. 

Gymnastics. — There are two respects in which the Swedish 
school-system is far superior to ours. 

One is in the universal teaching of gymnastic exercises. 
Every school-building has its large, high room, with earth- 
ern or matted floor, and all sorts of implements for develop- 
ing the muscles — ladders, poles, wooden horses, cross-bars 
up to the roof, jumping-places, ropes for swinging, knotted 
ropes for climbing, etc. The scholars are not allowed to 
exercise on what they wish, but there is a regular, scientifi- 
cally-arranged system. They are trained in squads, and move 
and march, sometimes to music, at the word of command. 

At a large public school in Stockholm I saw the lads 
in their noon lessons at gymnastics. The teacher gave the 
word, and a dozen sprang out towards a tall pole with cross- 
bars, and clambering up it, each hung with his legs, then 
at the word all together dropped their heads backward 
and hung by the feet and ankles, then again recovered 
themselves and let themselves down. Another party, one 
after the other, squirmed up a naked mast ; another pulled 
themselves up hand over hand on a knotted rope ; others, 
in succession, played leap-frog over a wooden horse ; then 
they marched to the beat of the drum. The smaller or 



Gymnastics. 363 

weaker boys begin with the lowest grade of exercise, aud 
follow up, according to a scientific system, arranged for 
health. They all seemed to go into it with the greatest 
rehsh, and showed well-trained muscular power. I could 
not but conclude that the superior physique of the Swedish 
men is not entirely due to climate. When will America 
learn that health and strength have their unescapable 
laws ? 

This gymnastic system is a regular medical system in 
Sweden. Prof. Ling has an elaborate treatise on it. I 
found the treatment in much use for nervous, bilious, and 
dyspeptic disorders, both among men and women, the most 
intelligent people having great confidence in it. 

Our public schools in America ought to be up with this 
step in education. Every Ward School, High School, or 
school of any importance, should have its gymnasium. Of 
all nations in the world, ours, with its intense and constant 
stimulus to the nervous system, needs the balance of healthy 
exercise for the muscular. Children are growing up puny, 
and nervous and delicate, most of all, perhaps, for the 
want of such training during the time when their brains 
are in most constant activity. Mr. Barnard, of Hartford, 
Ct., one of the great reformers of our common school educa- 
tion, is deeply interested in the subject, and has models and 
plans of the Swedish implements and machinery for this 
purpose. The introduction of a good method of physical 
training might change the whole bodily and sanitary condi- 
tion of our growing population. 

Scientific Schools for Workmen. — The other superiority 



364 TheIsTorse-Folk. 

of the Swedish system, lies in the advantages it oiffers to 
mechanics and laborers. In a small Swedish town, not 
larger than Bridgeport, for instance, you find an evening 
school, where mechanics can learn drawing, modelling, or 
the practical application of the natural sciences, without 
any expense. I visited one in Stockholm in which Mr 
Siljestrom is much interested, which was truly a '' School 
of Art." There were in it beautiful plaster models of Greek 
sculpture, and bas-reliefs of Italian statuary, and of the best 
of Danish bas-relief — than which modern art has nothing 
more pure and classical — beside plaster casts of heads, frag- 
ments of limbs, mathematical blocks and architectural 
ornaments, from which to draw and to model. An original 
device struck me here, of natural forest-leaves arranged to 
draw or mould from. All this with lessons and teachers 
in the arts, lectures on chemistry and the sciences, is open 
every evening for laboring men and women. The conse- 
quence is, as in France, you have a class in Sweden, which 
America has not, of artisans of taste — artistic mechanics, 
men and women, who show ingenuity and a tasteful origin- 
ality in the manufacture of furniture, the decoration, paint- 
ing and frescoing of rooms, the making of common ware 
and implements. Whatever you are obliged to buy for 
a house in the shops, without ordering, has not that hard, 
awkward, angular look, which such articles have with us. 
Then these schools provide the women with a new and beau- 
tiful means of livelihood — the arts of designing, painting, 
drawing, and the applying of science to manufacture. Such 
schools for laborers exist all through Sweden. 



Schools of Design. 365 

It is truly a disgrace that in them America should be 
so far behind. Except the excellent Schools of Design for 
women in Boston and New York, I know of nothing of the 
kind in the United States. 

Our city evening schools are good in their way, but they 
are suspended at certain seasons of the year, and they do 
not teach the higher mechanical and artistic branches. The 
New York Free Academy has a good modelling and draw- 
ing department, but is open only in the day, and designed 
for the lads of the school. 

Perhaps the great "Cooper Institute" will eventually 
supply the deficiency. 

America — the country of all where Labor is honored — 
ought to hold out advantages to the laboring classes, equal 
at least to those in the old and aristocratic Kingdom of 
Sweden 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE ISLAND OF GOTTLAND. 

A STEAMER runs twice a week between Stockholm and 
Kalmar, touching at Wisby the principal city of Gott- 
lancl. 

The trip to this Island, is a favorite pleasure excursion in 
the summer, from the capital ; and with good reason. There 
is not in North Europe so picturesque a town as this old 
commercial city of Gottland. The first view from the water 
is of broken towers, battlements, gables, ruined churches 
and half-demolished spires, with small houses closely crowded 
among them. You land on a w^harf quietly, and go up nar- 
row paved streets, between low, quaint houses^ and now and 
then pass an old tall, gabled warehouse, reminding of the 
days when Wisby was a leading Hanseatic city. You come 
soon on the ancient wall encircling the whole city, which has 
some forty-five towers yet remaining, though much defaced 
and broken.- 

This wall is built on the limestone, rock, and follows each 
change of surface. The towers are some of them still used 
as granaries or prisons. As you wander carelessly about, 
you come upon a ruined church — some quiet scene with a 

8G6 



Ruined Churches. 367 

green grass-plot, and the stone walls and arches rising distinct 
againt the beautiful blue sky of this latitude. You entgr, 
and find yourself under columns and arches, still simple and 
chaste as in the best Gothic periods ; amid ruins belonging 
to the earliest times of Scandinavia, built before William 
the Conqueror had touched the soil of England. 

If you observe, you find your architectural principles 
shocked by a mingling of periods, once most severely separ- 
ated—the sturdy round arch of the Saxon, side by side with 
the graceful, aspiring, pointed arch of the early Gothic, 
proving in art as in ethnology, that the Saxon has had 
vastly more than his deserts from the world. 

The '' Church of the Holy Spirit," an octagonal tower, 
with one crypt-like room opening into another above of 
similar form, by a hewn aperture in its stone ceiling, is one 
of the most remarkable architectural structures in the world, 
and thus far, I think, unexplained. Nearly all these build- 
ings show a great completeness and fineness of work. The 
town only contains some 5,000 inhabitants, yet there are 
now the ruins in it of from twelve to twenty large churches, 
most of them dating back to the tenth and twelfth cen- 
turies. 

Such a collection of mediaeval remains, it seems to me, 
does not exist in Europe, and it is surprising that we have 
nowhere a good pictorial description of them.* The con- 

* An American artist of talent, Mr. W. U. 0. Burton, of Waterbury, 
Ct., has made a beautiful series of sketches of these wonderful ruins, 
the most complete series existing. 



368 The N o k s e-F o l k . 

trast of these chaste, finished structures, requiring such ad- 
vanced taste and such great wealth, with the poor miserable 
town, though a common one elsewhere, is here very impres- 
sive, because the story of the rise of this splendor and its 
passing away is so hid in the mists of history. 

The Scandinavian Yikings, from the early centuries, as 
has already been shown, did not alone bring back the plun- 
der of their piracies. Some of the fruits of their adventur- 
ous expeditions were the introduction of foreign arts and 
commerce, and the ministry of the new Christian Faith. They 
' traded with Constantinople, Italy, Russia, the East, and the 
islands and coasts of the Northern Ocean. The centre of 
one of these connections of trade — long before the exist- 
ence of the Hanseatic League — became this city of Gott- 
land. 

The productions which the East brought to Northern 
Europe were conveyed in caravans to the Russian city of 
Novgorod, itself founded by Swedes, and from there sent to 
Wisby to be exchanged for the iron, copper, fish and furs of 
Scandinavia. Immense numbers of Asiatic coins have been 
found in Gottland, and in various parts of Sweden. In 
Stockholm alone, there are said to be preserved near twenty 
thousand coins issued under the Caliphs. Coins have been 
found, also, indicating a considerable commerce between 
England and Wisby, from 959 to 1066. In the twelfth 
century, Wisby was in high prosperity. Foreigners from 
various countries were settled there, having their own 
separate churches, built with much splendor. Great ware- 
houses lined the streets, and her wealth was farmed through 



WisBY. 369 

the commercial world. One ctiurch is yet shown which, 
tradition says, had an oriel window set with such rich pearls, 
that they shone far out at sea to the approaching sailor. 

In the thirteenth century, German merchants were settled 
here and the city was intimately associated with Ltibec ; 
and in the fourteenth she became the head city, and some 
claim the founder of the Hanseatic League. The high- 
gabled warehouses show still the evidence of the German 
occupation and wealth. 

The code of Mercantile Laws,* first applied by the Ger- 
mans and Northmen of Wisby, has become the foundation for 
the European code of Maritime and International Law since. 

The decline of the city dates from its beleaguerment and 
sack by Waldemar, King of Denmark, in 1361. After this, 
its rival Liibec and its enemies, the Danes, sought inces- 
santly to injure it ; trade found new channels, and the city 
sunk to be only a relic of what it had been. 

A curious relic, both of the barbarism and the uncon- 
querable spirit of that race, which laid the foundation of its 
wealth and the liberty of modern days — the JSTorthmen — is 
shown on this Island — a suicide cliff, where the Norse chief- 

* Pardessus and other French writers on maritime law, following 
him, do not hold that the maritime code of Wisby originated there. 
Their theory is, that this code was a compilation of all the local com- 
mercial laws among the mercantile cities of the Low Countries, and 
of North Europe — Wisby among the number, and that it was only 
brought forth in that city. 

The oldest copies are in Gothic and Low German, dating near 1320. 
Good editions can be seen in the Astor Library, New York. 

16* 



Q 



70 The IToese-Folk. 



tains, who were in danger after a life of battles, of the dis 
grace of dying in bed, camB to throw themselves off. The 
Sagas relate that it was often thus used. Many of the most 
interesting relics of the Scandinavian museums have been 
found on this island. 

There is great need of a thorough description of Gottland 
— of its early history and the quaint superstitions and cus- 
toms of its people ; its antiquities and unequalled architec- 
ture. There is nothing of value so far as I know, in any 
language on it. A very learned gentleman in Wisby, with 
great taste for such investigations — Mr. Save — ^has been 
collecting, for many years, the material for such a work. 
The only difficulty, probably, will be, that he has too much 
material, and can hardly make a salable book for general 
readers. 

During my visit there, I was very hospitably entertained 
by a Swedish gentleman, well known in England, Consul 
Enquist. He had a fine place without the city — the house 
almost like a chateau. He is much engaged in a large 
enterprise for draining a tract of some 14,000 acres within 
the island ; 4,000 have already been made cultivable, and 
the rest is yet being drained. It is one of the largest ope- 
rations for agricultural improvement in Sweden. Gottland 
is a ledge of encrinitic lime-stone, rising up unaccountably 
near the primitive rocks which make the coast of the penin- 
sula, and naturally has an excellent soil for wheat. The 
climate is much milder than that of -the coast near by ; and 
the grape, chestnut, and mulberry ripen here in favorable 
situations, though the island is in the latitude of the north of 



Scotch Faemers. 371 

Labrador — 51° 30'. The weather, while I was there (in 
September), was like our most beautiful June weather in 
America, a soft mild air, with dreamy blue skies and a 
really summer heat under the sun at noon-day. 

Among the institutions of Wisby, which I visited, were 
some popular schools in large buildings, well supplied with 
libraries and other means of education. I saw on Sunday, 
a school of young working-men, which was taught gratui- 
tously, first in religious matters and then in the usual secular 
instruction. J^he teachers with whom I became acquainted 
were all men of culture. There is one large bath-house for 
the people on the principle of the English bathing establish- 
ments for the poor. In leaving the place on the steamboat, 
I was introduced to several Scotch farmers, of whom some 
were returning to Scotland, and others had already settled 
on the island. The great inducements to them were the 
cheapness of the land — $4 to $6 an acre for a good wheat- 
raising farm being a common price, and the low wages — 
$20 to $30 per annum, with board ; yet they did not seem 
very well satisfied. They felt the difficulty which always 
meets such experiments — the impediments from the spirit of 
an old backward society, such as cannot beforehand be 
reckoned in figures and yet which hampers every new 
undertaking. 

My last view of the picturesque old city was in the light 
of a rich sunset. The broken cornices were gilded anew ; 
the harsh outlines of dismantled walls softened ; the ruined 
towers filled out in the shaded light, and the upspringing 
lonely arches crowned with a wonderful glory. 



372 TheNokse-Folk. 

Gradually, the distinctive objects became confused, the 
buUdings were masked in dark shadows, until at length the 
low island itself was lost in the splendor of the waters under 
the evening glow. • 

From Gottland, we steamed down the coast towards 
Kalmar. It is a most interesting reflection, as one passes 
this Swedish coast, that at this day, one of those grand 
mysterious internal movements of the earth, which raise 
continents and open the bed of oceans, is quietly and con- 
tinually going on here. 

As early as the beginning of 1700, Celsius observed that 
the waters, both of the Baltic and the Northern ocean, 
were constantly sinking. He estimated the fall to be 40 
Swedish inches in a century. 

More careful and comprehensive observations showed the 
fact to be that the land was rising. In 1807, Von Buch, 
after his celebrated tour over Norway, expressed his con- 
clusion that the whole country was rising — Sweden more 
than Norway, and the northern part more than the southern 
part.* In 1834, Sir Charles Lyell, one of the most careful 
and candid of the observers of natural phenomena, compared 
the marks made by the Swedish officials at various periods 
in this century, on the coast north of Stockholm, and con- 
cluded that the land had risen 4 or 5 inches in that time, 
and that the rise diminishes from the north of the Gulf of 
Bothnia towards the south. He sta^tes, what every travel- 

* Von Buch^and Lyell's Principles of Geology, vol. ii., p. 402. 



Geologic Movements 373 

ler must confirm as true, that the character of the coast — 
consisting, as it were, of two lines of coast, one, the shore, 
and the other, a series of broken reefs and islets— makes it 
peculiarly easy to determine whether the rocks and land- 
marks and channels have changed. The rocks, beside, are 
of gneiss, mica-schist and quartz, and of course, less likely to 
lose the peculiar aspect which make them familiar to the 
sailors and fishermen. It is well known all along this coast, 
that many islands have sprung up and become wooded, and 
that old channels are become filled and impassable. 

This movement of elevation, Lyell supposes to go on over 
a territory some thousand miles in length, from Gottenburg 
to Tornea, and thence to the North Cape, and extending 
several hundred miles in breadth, far into the interior of 
Sweden and Finland. The evidences of it are numerous, in 
the change of the height of waters, in the disappearance of 
old landmarks, and especially in the discovery of many 
deposits of sea-shell, hundreds of feet above the water, and 
even as far inland as 10 miles from the present shore — 
shells of the same genera with living species in the Baltic. 

The appearance, in many districts, is of subsidence and 
re-elevation. While all the centre and north of Sweden 
seems thus being forced gradually by tremendous agencies 
from beneath, whether of heat or gases or galvanic 
action, above the surface of the water, the southern part — 
Scania and the country we are passing — is gradually sink- 
ing, to such a degree, that the streets of several of the old 
cities nearest the water, are now submerged ; and ancient 
streets are discovered, many feet below low-water mark. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

KALMAR AND SMALAND. 

Kalmar is famed in Swedish history as the city, where for 
a short time was made real the idea of Scandinavian Unity. 
Four centuries and a half ago (1391), the three kingdoms 
of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were here brought un- 
der one Queen. Eighty -six years later, the Union was again 
renewed in this place ; and through it the aristocracy 
reached the highest power which they have ever gained in 
Sweden, while the Danes were left in reahty the masters of 
the country. The nation was finally freed from the tyranny of 
foreigners, by the heroic exertions of Gustavus Vasa. 

The present town is a quiet, quaint Provincial place, con- 
taining about 1,000 inhabitants, with the old historic castle 
still standing, where these great events occurred. Among 
the modern changes, a German has opened a hotel in the 
principal square, which is a great improvement on the 
Swedish houses of the sort. I met here again some intelli- 
gent agreeable men, who showed me much kindness. In 
general, Kalmar has a poor reputation for cultivated society. 
The people are very much absorbed in business ; and there 
is a great want of the usual Swedish family life. Gentlemen 

374 



- Society. 375 

live at their club-rooms or billiard-rooms, and the wives 
suffer for it at home. It struck me that Miss Bremer, in 
her pictures in Hertha, of woman's inferior position and 
influence in Sweden^ must have had in mind just such towns 
as this. And yet the fault is very much with the women. 
They have not the wit or the accomplishments to make home 
more attractive than any thing outside. 

I was desirous to see some of the characteristic Smaland 
peasantry, and was recommended to Dr. V., as one of the 
most intelligent Pastors of the country, who could put me in 
the way of seeing them. His reception into the old parson- 
age was most cordial, and he himself, with his pale, intel- 
lectual, spiritual face, must remain to me, as to every one 
who has enjoyed his acquaintance, a most pleasing memory. 
We sat under the old beeches, in the front of the house, all 
the day and talked ; and then, in company with his Adjunct, 
visited some of the peasants. During the day, many of the 
people came up to consult with the pastor — among others, a 
stalwart young peasant, who went away at length looking 
very much cast down. The Doctor explained — Some years 
since, the mother of the young man bought him a fine little 
farm. As he was still a minor, she could not register it, as 
the law requires ; afterwards when he was of age, she 
neglected it. Now, after having labored on it for years, and 
improved it, under the increased value of all such property, 
the original owners, who had discovered the mistake, demand 
back the property, on the ground that the law has^not been 
fulfilled. The young man came to the Pastor as his legal 



376 The Norse-Folk, 

adviser in the matter. The Pastor was obliged to say to 
him, that nothing legal could be done, except to attempt 
to recover the value of his improvements. He himself offered 
to try the effect of a moral appeal with the other parties, 
though with little hopes of success 

TIiG laws on woman's holding property in Sweden, are 
eveii more strict than this. The Doctor says, that an un- 
married woman, if she be seventy years old, can not hold 
property in her own name ; but if she were a widow at 
seventeen, she has all legal rights during the rest of her 
life.* 

In the course of the day, another peasant, with a down- 
cast, sneaking look, entered the yarJ, and was taken up to 
the Pastor's study. We inquired of the case. " Ack I' 
said Dr. Y., speaking German, "it is the oath-taking I" — 
We looked surprised. " You should know," he added, " that 
sometimes people here are only kalf-condemned, or half- 
acquitted. Por instance, if there be but one witness, or the 
testimony be doubtful in character, or for some other reason 
the Judge is not satisfied, he half-acquits him. That is, before 
the final sentence he sends him to his clergyman, and after 
being instructed in the nature of an oath, he takes a most 
solemn oath that he is not guilty. If he refuses to receive 
the oath from his pastor, it is strong presumptive evidence in 
the mind of the Judge that he is guilty. If he takes it, and 

* In the Royal Speech during this last winter (1856-57), one of the 
many liberal recommer.iations was, that the laws in regard to the 
minority of women should be changed. Miss Bremer's especial object 
in Ilertha, was to cause a reform in this opnressive legislation. 



An Akgijment. 377 

is afterwards proved guilty, he is liable to greater punish- 
ment. I have such persons sent to me constantly. This 
Bonder took the oath in a quibbling way, which I shall 
report to the Judge." 

'' But how do you account for such a custom ?" I asked. 
" What has the clergyman to do with the law ?" 

" It is entirely consistent," he answered. " You are to 
remember that with us the State and the Church are one. 
The judge and the pastor are both ofi&cials in the same 
organization. The sanctioAS of Religion are to be applied 
to the courts of justice, as much as to the more immediate 
institutions of Religion." 

Seeing that he was philosophizing on a favorite topic, 
which interested me, I drew him out. 

'' Do you regard Confirmation, as a condition of civil 
-rights, in the same manner ?" I asked. 

" Certainly," he replied. " I have indeed had my doubts, 
and I have thought much on the subject, but let me explain. 
The State commences as a Christian State. It demands 
that all its members shall be Christians. For this purpose, 
it enacts that all who wish to be citizens shall pass through 
the outward rites of our sacred religion. Every one must 
be baptized. Then, for the same reason, it requires that 
every one shall be instructed and approved by the pastor, 
and confirmed in Christian doctrine. If he cannot show the 
evidence of this instruction, in his Schein (confirmation- 
papers), he is presumed not to be worthy of the privileges 
of citizenship. You see our stand-point ?" 

"But do you not see," said I, "that you gain no real 



378 The IsTokse-Folk. 

Christianity by tMs ? You get outward ceremonies, and 
conforming — ttiat is all. And more, you are far more liable 
to cultivate hypocrisy than true faith. I should expect a 
Church, under such a system, to be lifeless." 
- "Ach! Sie haben recht ! You are right. Our beloved 
Zion is almost todt (dead) now. But that is the result of 
other causes. In this system which you deplore, we at least 
gain that every man and woman and chUd shall be in- 
structed in the principles of our holy Religion." 

" I would not discuss here the subject of public education 
in Religion," I answered, " but in our view, the partaking 
of the Lord's-Supper is a testimony of certain states of the 
heart, with which Law can have nothing to do. To enforce 
it under civil penalties, is to command the faith of the heart 
which cannot in its own nature be a subject of Law." 

" Es ist ganz recht I It is quite true !" burst in one of 
our party, Herr T., a very generous, impulsive young man. 
" The Herr Americaner has hit it. I confess to the Herr 
Doctor, I suffer from this every year. The Herr Doctor 
will remember that I was confirmed before I could really 
understand these doctrinal problems. Now, it is the law 
that I must attend public Communion once at least a year. 
But I cannot. I do not care for it. I do not believe all 
the words which are said to me there. And yet I must. If 
I should stay away, that verfluche — pardon ! — that infamous 
N would inform against me, and I might lose my busi- 
ness and be fined heavily I Is that right, Herr Doctor ? I 
am a hypocrite I" 

The Doctor was a little perplexed, for no man was ever 



Discussion. 379 

more open to truth than his pure soul ; but for the time, he 
took refuge in the easy assertion that the Herr T. should 
try to make the blessed Abendsmal (Communion-Supper) a 
reality and nourishment to himself, and then the yoke would 
be easy and the burden light ! 

Our host was anxious to know what had been the effects 
of the separation of Church and State in America. He 
had the same general views, common here, of the sad dis- 
turbances of sects, the unworthy rivalry of preachers and 
the growth of all possible heresies in America, which I have 
before described. 

I gave him our theory of the office of sects. 

" Yes," he said, candidly, *' theoretically that is true. 
We are many limbs in one body, which is Christ. That 
system may be useful for the young, free America. It will 
not be so here — though, alas ! our beloved church some- 
times here seems crumbling in its walls. It is true, that 
the pure Faith is now not often to be found among us." 

Here our young friend broke in. 

*'I have told Herr B. that in my view, not for centuries 
are we ready for Gewissens-freiheit— Freedom of Conscience. 
I believe in a Republic, but I do not think Sweden fit for 
it. So with Freedom of Conscience. When we have a 
Republic, then will we have all sects among us !" 

I told him that I could not see that the two went at all 
necessarily together. The liberty to worship and to think 
on religious subjects, and to express and organize one's 
thoughts, was universal and eternal. 

" But look, Herr B. ! See these Ldsare now ! I detest 



380 The ISTokse -Folk. 

them ! See what vulgar, hypocritical fanatics they are ! 
We used to be quiet here in Smaiand, and now they have 
turned everything upside down. The next thing will be 
your Mormons, and forty wives to each man, and all sorts 
of disturbances. No ; I am for keeping down these cursed 
fanatics with a strong hand. Let them go to the dev — , 
ahem — pardon ! Doctor ! — America, I mean !" 

I will not follow out the discussion. Enough is given 
to show the spirit. Our friend, Mr. T., is one of the "young 
Sweden " party — a Reformer and Liberalist. On every 
other matter his views are expanded and humane. Though 
not precisely true of him, yet in general one may say, that 
the spirit of bigotry has its peculiar residence in Sweden, 
There is not in any other country of Europe, so far as I 
know, so narrow and persecuting a spirit — not more in 
Naples or Austria. 

" Shall we visit the Bonders ?" said the amiable, little 
adjunct. 

We were ready, and in a comical bit of a wagon, rode 
out in the woods. The groves in this part of Sweden are 
far finer than in the North — the elm, the oak, and the 
beech, are the principal trees. We came first to a small 
cottage, just at the outskirts. There was but one large 
room in it, neatly kept, but with an air of destitution. A 
laboring man and his wife with a few children were in it. 
He took the visit in good part, and we had considerable 
conversation on crops and weather, and the like. Hearing 
that I was from America, he took out a well-worn card of 



The *^Hemman." 381 

Natural History, with pictures of serpents and various wild 
animals of the tropics, to know if any of them came from 
my country. He had no books except the Bible and one 
religious novel, which the pastor had just loaned him. The 
man had more the aspect of one of the German Bauer — 
the peasants of the Continent, than any I had seen — as of 
one who had had no fit opportunities of development. 

I inquired about his position, and heard that he was 
the tenant of a " StamhemmanP 

The various kinds of Hemman, to a stranger in Sweden, 
are utterly confounding. This was interpreted, as a cottagie 
belonging to the pastorate ; in this case, taken from the 
monks, by Gustavus II., as I understood. 

Beside this, there is the Krono-Hemman, a property be- 
longing to the Crown, but farmed by a peasant. Then 
the Krono Skatte Hemman, an estate formerly belonging 
to the Crown, now bought free from the rent to the State, 
1by the capitalization of its rents and by the paying of high 
taxes. Still further, the Frdlse Hemman, that is, a freehold 
liberated from the customary taxes for supporting the mili- 
tary. Formerly, this kind of privileged freehold could only 
be possessed by the nobility, as a reward for great services. 
Since 1809, all classes have been allowed to hold them, 
and the peasants have bought up a large number from the 
decayed gentry. 

Finally, is the S'dteri Hemman, a property liberated from 
still other taxes — in some cases, as an encouragement for 
making improvements thereon. According to the old laws, 
the taxes of a province were divided among the Hemman. 



382 The Norse- Folk. 

A district must provide, for instance, six oxen, or a hundred 
hens for the soldiery, so that finally on the tax lists a 
Hemman would be found charged with the thousandth part 
of an ox, or seven-eighths of a hen, or nine-tenths of a lamb. 
These taxes still remain in form, to the great enjoyment 
of humorous antiquaries. 

We visited some other cottages of the wealthier peasants 
— ^houses much superior to any of this class in the North. 
They were usually freehold properties. The crops were^he 
same as hitherto mentioned, with the exception of more 
wheat and occasional fields of flax. 

We chanced, in the evening, to speak of the habits of the 
people with respect to drinking, and I heard the same report 
here as in other provinces, of the wonderful improvement in 
the last five or ten years. 

A gentleman was present who had led the temperance 
movement in Southern Sweden — Magister Strom — and who, 
against much obloquy, had at length in Kalmar carried out 
preventive measures against the evil which has so cursed 
Sweden. His account of his efforts to awake public atten- 
tion — the statistics — ^t1ie numeration of calamities he was 
obliged to set forth — the cry of fanatic and ultraist aroused 
against him — the insult and almost imminent danger of 
losing his business, for his reformatory measures — was very 
interesting. He was not a total-abstinence man or for the 
Maine Law. His object was simply to limit the use and 
sale of the common cheap drinks which so inevitably degrade 
the great masses of the people addicted to them. The 



Liquor-Law. 383 

method, as adopted in Kalmar, lias been entirely successful, 
and deserves consideration by our reformers in America. 

The main feature is the making the drink too expensive 
for the common peasants. This is done by allowing no one 
to sell liquors, except the licensed dealers. These are 
heavily taxed by the city — so much 2, Kanna (about two 
quarts) ; and it is assumed that no seller has less than 
eight hundred Kannar. Then no one is allowed to sell a less 
quantity than a Kanna. If he does, for the first and second 
offence, he is exposed to very heavy fines ; and, if I under- 
stood rightly, to imprisonment for the third. The conse- 
quence is that brandy which used to be twelve skilliugs 
(four cents) for two quarts, is now several dollars (Swedish). 

The topers with small means cannot get their usual 
draughts. The poor peasants must club together to obtain 
their Kanna of brandy ; and any disorderly conduct on the 
premises, or even the selling the liquor to women and chil- 
dren, is considered cause sufl&cient to remove their license. 
A volunteer society watches these liquor-shops and reports 
to the police, and carries on the suits. 

The measure has not been so extreme as to defeat itself. 
Even the lower classes — especially the women — begin to 
like it. It is observed that the potatoes which used to go 
to whisky are now eaten ; that the neighboring districts of 
Skania, which once imported wheat — so much was their 
own employed in distilling — now have enough to export. 
Crimes and distressed cases of poverty are of much less fre- 
quent occurrence. The lower classes of the city have a dif- 
ferent aspect. 



384 The JSToese-Folk. 

For my own part, I should consider sucli measures in our 
American cities vastly more practical and probable to suc- 
ceed, than any entirely preventive laws. The great difficulty 
with us would probably be, that what a man wants in 
America, he can generally afford to get. We could not 
make brandy so expensive that topers would not buy it. 
Still we could control somewhat the poorest, and the indif- 
ferent, to whom the price would be an object ; and we 
could prevent public disorder on such premises. 



CHAPTER XXXI Y. 

A COUNTRY HOME. 

From Dr. V.'s we posted on to the house of a gentleman 
of distinction, to whom I had been kindly recommended, 
whom I will call Mr. X. 

Of all the Swedish homes which I was permitted to 
visit, and whose hospitaUty I enjoyed, this made the most 
agreeable impression on me. A seat of repose, of refine- 
ment and culture, where the people seemed mated to the 
surroundings. Here, rank and high position had not les- 
sened the spirit of genial humanity, or cramped the activity 
of the intellect. A high-bred Swedish lady is, to my mind, 
the perfection of that kind. She has the settled air of one 
accustomed to deference, which sits so well on many of my 
countrywomen, and something of their best culture ; she has 
the grace of the Frenchwoman, yet with a certain kind and 
sweet courtesy, and a repose, if not seriousness, of nature, 
which belong to neither the Americans nor French. Our 
ladies — and it is more true of the English — are not usually 
kind enough in their courtesies ; a certain coldness, or re- 
serve, or indifference, restraining them too much. The great 

It 886 



386 The Norse-Folk. 

peculiarity, it seems to me, in the manner of tlie Swedish 
lacly of the higher classes, is this ^^raceful and sweet kind- 
ness. I do not think the Swedish women are remarkable 
for beauty. The severe climate tells on the wealthy classes, 
and those of the lower are too much worked for preserving 
any delicacy of traits. The ladies have often the slight, 
fragile appearance of our American women, but nearly 
always a grace and ease of carriage, which quite make one 
forget the want in this regard. 

As I have remarked before, there is in manner and 
general bearing a distinct line between the women of the 
middle and the aristocratic classes. 

A common phrase about the Swedes, repeated in all 
descriptions of them, is that they are the *' French of the 
North." It does not seem to me true, and must have 
taken its origin in superficial resemblances, and in another 
age. There is a tact and politeness with the most aris- 
tocratic classes, which is somewhat French. They use the 
language also much, and in the last century were much 
imbued with French ideas. But the essential groundwork 
of the Swedish nature, is anything but French. They are 
a sober, serious people. The severe skies and dark forests 
of evergreen, and their Teutonic blood have brought forth 
a solemn, almost superstitious, temperament. 

There is much ardor and force apparent in all classes, 
the natural accompaniment of their vigorous constitutions 
and sanguine habit of body. But with this always, a 
certain seriousness or religiosity, not a poetic sadness, as 
in the Hungarian temperament, or an overstrained ear- 



Swedish Tempejrament. 387 

nestness, as in tlie American, — but a soberness as from a 
tendency of the mind to fasten on unseen and spiritual 
phenomena. This too being a matter more of feeling than 
of reflection ; for the Nation does not at all impress you, 
as do the Germans — as a people, skeptical or given to 
inquiring into spiritual truths. The same thing is true of 
the Norwegian, though not to so great a degree. The 
Norwegian is a modern democrat by the side of the Swede, 
the old aristocrat ;«rough, ready, manly, intelligent, equal 
to any one and accustomed to battle with the most stern 
powers of nature. The Swede is more refined, courteous 
and gentle, with more of poetry and superstition clinging 
to him, but still with the old Norse power in him. 

I confess of the two, the Swede is to me the more inter- 
esting, though by no means the more valuable to the world. 
Both nations are essentially inclined to superstition. 

My friend's house was on the outskirts of the pine forest. 
We were walking under the barred lights and shadows 
in a beautiful September afternoon, and spoke of these 
things, I mentioned the superstitious experiences which 
I have already detailed, in the old castles I had visited. 
" These are nothing new Herr B.," said Mr. X., in Ger- 
man. " I do not think out of every ten people, you could 
find one who had not encountered such adventures. Before 
1 was in public life, I was a great deal among the peas- 
antry. Many and many a night have I been called up 
to see or hear the spokeri (witchcraft or ghostcraft). The 
peasants would recount, that in an upper room they had 



388 The Nokse-Folk. 

distinctly heard the spirits throwing the tin vessels and the 
chairs at each other — then a violent struggle between the 
demons, and then all would be quiet.* 

" At other times, regular steps would be heard passing over 
the floor, or lights be seen ; sometimes the cattle and horses 
are attacked, and they stamp and neigh in an unaccountable 
manner. I always went at once, no matter at what hour of 
the night, to the place which was haunted, to break up the 
delusion among these people. Sometunes in an attic I would 
fmd a cat, sitting quietly in one corner ; sometimes rats 
would run over the floor — more generally every thing was 
still, and there were not the sHghtest signs of any thing being 
moved. I remember a singular instance of this. Sit you down 
while I draw out the position of things." He then marked on 
the sand with his cane, two houses at the ends of a hypothenuse 
of a triangle. "I was in this house, you see, when late one even- 
ing I was called down to see a fearful spooking, in the other 
house there " (pointing to the other end of the line), " which 
had been long uninhabited, bright lights were plainly visible 
through the windows, and figures of men and women were 
seen passing to and fro. The people were greatly frightened. 
I asKed for the key, and against their strong dissuasion, 
offered to go over to the haunted house, if some one would 

* The old historian of Sweden, Glaus Magnus, thus confirms this. 
" Of the hurts done by the devils. In the Northern parts (where the 
devil hath his seat really) they mock the people that live there with 
unspeakable delusions, under various forms, and do them hurt also, 
throwing down their houses, killing their cattle, spoiling their fields, 
making a desolation of castles and waters." 



''Spooking." 889 

accompany me. After some hesitation, one of the young 
peasants consented, and we walked over the fields to the 
house. We reached the door, but the lights and figures had 
all disappeared. The house was empty and dark. I put 
the key in the door, and it sounded with a hollow reecho, 
as in an empty building. We went into both rooms where 
the hght had been, but everything was still and untouched. 
It was clear, no mortals had been there for a long time. I 
was at a loss. Of the figures and the lights, I could 
not have a doubt. They had been there. At length, on 
going back to the room where the brightest lights had been, 
I looked out of the window, and there was the explanation ! 
You see this head of the friangle — well, there was a cottage 
with a bright open fire in a large fire-place, and men and 
women were passing before it. The reflection first struck 
full on these windows, while some inequality of the ground 
prevented its being seen from the other house. Was it not 
a good instance of our spokeri ?" 

Mr. X. has taken a philosophic interest in these supersti- 
tious, and investigated them somewhat closely. There is 
often a deep poetic truth in them. 

THE TOMTE. 

Two peasants — so believe the people — start in life with 
equal blessings ; each has his rich grain-fields, his patch of 
wood, his red-house, his horses and cattle. One thrives con- 
tinually ; his stacks are fuller every day, his crops better, 
his beasts healthier, his house more protected from storm 



s 



390 TheNoese-Folk. 

and winter. With the other it is the reverse. The roof 
leaks, the cows die, the wheat mildews, the hay rots, the 
land grows poorer. 

What is the reason of the difference ? Manifestly, the 
first has his Towie^ oy little attendant spirit. The last has 
offended him. The Tomte, as all know, is the spirit of some 
poor heathen slave, who must work out his salvation before 
doomsday. He is a repulsive, deformed little fellow, hardly 
larger than a babe, with an old shrewd face, and wear- 
ing a red farmer's-cap and grey jacket and wooden 
shoes. 

One of the peasants had seen him at his usual time, in 
the noon day, dragging wearily along an oaten straw to the 
stack, or one ear of wheat to the barns, and scorned him 
and railed at him, saying he might as well bring nothing 
as such trifles. Then the Tomte went sadly to the other, 
and he grew rich, while the first became poor. If the 
Tomte brings only an acorn to the barn, no one must des- 
pise him. The proverb says, " The woodman holds the axe, 
but the Tomte fells the tree." 

THE PUKE. 

The Puke is more commonplace. He is a kitchen elf, 
whose excrements are frequently seen in the milk kitchen. 
Certain old women sell themselves to the devil, in order to 
get possession of these elves, for then they will have milk 
and cream as much as they desire. If any one wishes to 
discover these old women, he will burn the excrements 



Superstitions. 391 

where tliree roads meet, with bits of wood from nine differ- 
ent trees, and then they must appear. 

The Swedish superstitions have a characteristic tone to 
them — a more sober and rehgious element than the supersti- 
tions of other European peasantry. This is particularly true 
in those where Heathendom and Christianity are, as it were, 
struggling. The mysterious spirits of the streams and 
mountains are not merely fairies — creations of pleasant 
fancy. They are the unfortunates who did not enjoy, in 
their mortal lives, the light of Christianity, and are now 
awaiting Redemption. They are often almost despairing, 
and even the passing traveller may bitterly wound them, by 
proclaiming too severe condemnation on them. 

NECKEN. ' 

I have spoken of the plaintive melody of the *' Necken.'^ 
This being appears in different forms — sometimes as a young 
man with beastly extremities, representing the power of ani- 
mal passion which has brought him to this ; sometimes as 
an old man, but more often as a youth playing the harp on 
the water. The best offering that can be made him, is a 
black lamb, especially if the hope of eternal salvation be at 
the same time expressed. Two boys once said to Necken, 
" What good dost thou gain by sitting here and playing ? 
Thou wilt never gain eternal happiness I"* whereat he wept 
bitterly. 

* Svenska Folk Visor — quoted by Thorpe. 



392 The Norse-Folk. 

In a locality of West Gothland, a Neck was heard singing 
to a pleasant melody these words — " I know — I know — I 
know that my Redeemer liveth !" ' 

Thorpe quotes a beautiful story of the Neck : 

"A priest riding one evening over a bridge, heard the 
most delightful tones of a stringed instrument, and, on look- 
ing round, saw a young man, naked to the waist, sitting on 
the surface of the water, with a red cap and yellow locks. 
He saw that it was the Neck, and in his zeal addressed- him 
thus : ' Why dost thou so joyously strike thy harp ? Sooner 
shall this dried cane that I hold in my hand grow green and 
flower, than thou shalt obtain salvation.' Thereupon the 
unhappy musician cast down his harp, and sat bitterly weep- 
ing on the water. The priest then turned his horse, and 
continued his course. But lo ! before he had ridden far, he 
observed that green shoots and leaves, mingled with most 
beautiful flowers, had sprung from his old staff. This 
seemed to him a sign from Heaven, directing him to preach 
the consoling doctrine of redemption after another fashion. 
He therefore hastened back to the mournful Neck, showed 
him the green flowery staff, and said : ' Behold how my old 
staff is grown green and flowery, like a young branch in a 
rose-garden ; so likewise may hope bloom in the hearts of 
all created beings, for their Redeemer liveth 1' Comforted 
by these words, the Neck again took his harp, the joyous 
tones of which resounded along the shore the whole livelong 
night." 

It was characteristic that while talking over these super- 
stitions with Mr. X., our young friend with us, Mr. T., vol- 



Modes of Life. 393 

unteered a confession of no less than two most astonishing 
supernatural experiences which he had met with— one being 
the reappearance of the spirit of a lost friend, and the other 
the apparition of a dog ! Both he implicitly believed. 

The whole mode of life at my friend's was extremely 
comfortable and agreeable. Breakfast was at nine, dinner at 
three, and supper at eight in the evening. The house was 
a long one, and nearly the whole family lived on the ground 
floor. There was a pleasant garden, in which we often 
walked. The service, housekeeping and management was 
of the most quiet, refined description. I had some com- 
paring with Lady X. of the wages of servants. For her 
chamber-maids she pays about twelve dollars a year, and 
that is liberal. The footmen and coachmen earn about 
double this. Two thousand dollars would be reckoned a 
handsome income for a judge or even a bishop. The com- 
mon expenses here for food, rent, etc., are wonderfully small, 
compared with the American. 

There were endless inquiries after our modes of life in 
America. Hearing of the tyranny of conventionalities 
already beginning with us, a gentleman present related his 
struggles in one of the Swedish cities. He had small 
means, and, as he was about to be married, he determined 
to arrange matters very moderately. He accordingly in- 
duced his lady to put the ceremony in the morning, and 
invited only a few friends, with a simple refreshment. The 
thing was town-talk for a month ; and people could hardly 
agree that there had been a proper marriage. 

11* 



394 The JSTorse-Folk. 

When his first child was christened, in place of a grand 
feast and numerous sponsors, he only asked one or two inti- 
mate friends, and had a glass of wine. This too was 
thought an extraordinary eccentricity. 

I had much talk with Lady X. on the position of woman 
in the higher classes here. She says that even with the 
wealthy, the household demands much more personal care 
than in England or other countries. So much is made and 
produced on the estate always, that greater supervision is 
necessary. She thinks there has been, within a few years, 
great progress among the ladies in the ideas of their higher 
duties^ — especially those towards the poor. It seems the 
same problem here as all the world over, for the woman to 
systematise time, so that duties to herself and to her family 
and to the world, may not conflict. 

*^^ ^t* ^i^ *^ ^^ 

V^~ 0f^ ^f^ ^f^ ^K 

Mr. X., gratifying my hobby of studying the condition of 
the peasantry, has taken me to some of the Smaland Bon- 
ders. The first one whom we proposed to visit, had some 
office in the parish, and lived in a very comfortable style. 
His house was a large two-story house, like a well-to-do 
farmer's at home, approached by a winding road. We 
knocked and groped about for some time, without effect, 
until at length the mistress — a common-looking laboring 
woman — came forth. The husband was away, but we 
could see the house. The building and furniture were 
new — the latter mostly of birch, and quite as good as in a 
Connecticut farm-house. In one room was a writing-desk, 
with protocols and papers on it, and newspapers hanging 



An Aldekman. 395 

filed near by. In another, were the pictures of Luther and 
of Swedish heroes. There were a number of sitting and 
bed-rooms, besides one large ball-room. 

No books, however, were to be seen. I had visited no 
peasants' houses, since those near Gottenburg, showing the 
owner in so comfortable a position. The fact is important, 
historically, in the condition of this great class. 

The next visit was to a Bonder, who was an alderman of 
the village. He lived in a three-story wood house, with a 
large farm about it. His reception of us was very friendly. 
He brought forth a bottle of some sort of cordial and some 
curious little cakes, which he almost forced upon us. The 
house was even more comfortably furnished than the other. 
He owned eighty or ninety cows, eight or ten horses, and 
six pairs of oxen. There was a large threshing-machine on 
one of the barns, and an American plough in the yard. He^ 
had been draining and under-draining his whole farm. He 
had heard of the American reaping-machines, and thought 
they would be just the things for Sweden. After being 
quietly seated, we had a long conversation. 

I asked him whether he thought the '' House of Peasants" 
would be in favor of railroads in the next session. He 
thought they would, though many took a long time to see 
the necessity of them. He should advocate the govern- 
ment's making a permanent loan to the companies, receiving 
a regular interest, as from a bank. 

I spoke of a reform in Representation. " For my own 
share," he answered, " I should have no objection to a 
change, and I should prefer to bring in the other classes. 



396 The Nokse-Folk. 

There is no reason why Herr X., or any one owning land, 
should not vote with us and act in our House, as well as we. 
And I am sure that it would be better for us, as we should 
gain some good speakers and men of business. Now we 
often have very poor Houses. Still many of our Bonders 
will be jealous." 

I found him equally liberal and enlightened on the subject 
of schools. He felt the country to be far behind in that 
respect, and he hoped that his House would help on the 
measures for popular education. 

We asked him about books — what he had ? He seemed 
scarcely to have any ; seldom read any thing but the news- 
paper and the Bible. He had heard of the tremendous 
contest in America, and understood the question : was 
proud that Sweden would not allow a slave on her soil. 

His manner in the conversation was not at all so obsequi- 
ous ^r diffident as one generally sees in the Bonders towards 
those of the other classes. He had his own views, and evi- 
dently did not fear to utter them. 

THE MAGAZINE. 

In riding back to the house, we passed a large brick 
building, near the parish-church. On inquiring, I learnt 
that it was the Parish Magazine. That is, under a remark- 
able socialistic arrangement, the people are obliged to bring 
thither certain small proportions each year of their crops. 
This grain is kept, and when a year of bad crops comes, it 
is loaned out at a certain interest — paid in grain — to the 



Village School. 397 

members of the parish ; or, if any are absolutely suffering 
from want, it is given ; and thus it becomes a kind of per- 
manent social institution for the help of the parish. Similar 
storehouses exist through all Sweden. 

One difficulty in making public provision for the public 
poor in Sweden, lies in the internal organization of the coun- 
try. There are no Provincial Legislatures or Assemblies. 
The only administrative bodies are the Parish meetings ; so 
that it sometimes happens, that a petty matter, which belongs 
exclusively to the district, will go through several instances 
even to the king. This is the case with matters of 
pauperism. ' , 

Sweden needs two great changes in her internal adminis- 
tration. First, a more permanent, active representation of 
her parishes {Socknar), which shall have the character of, 
but be more efficient, than the present Socken-stamma 
(Parish-meeting) ; and second, a representation of counties 
(Ldn). 

We stopped on our way home at the village School. It 
was held in a very neat-looking dwelling-house, the other 
part of which was occupied by the teacher^s family. The 
children looked singularly pale and feeble, as much so as the 
poorest in our Charity Schools at home. They were, I 
learned, the children of poor laborers, who at this season, 
did not have much good food. The Teacher was putting 
them in a dreary way through the unfailing Catechism. (I 
ought to remark here, that I do not remember ever to have 
entered a popular School in Sweden, where this species of 



398 The Nokse-Folk. 

religious tongue-exercise was not going on.) Each boy 
droned over the replies, as he would over a definition in 
chemistry. Truths, which if believed, would rend human 
society as a rotten web ; Facts which are the echo of the 
grandest experience that man has yet worked out ; Defini- 
tions upon which the most acute minds of all ages have in- 
cessantly differed, were sung sleepily over by these children, 
and thus, as the catalogue says, they were ^^ taught Re- 
ligion .'" 



CHAPTER XXXV, 

THE KIDE TO CAELSCRONA, AND THE FLEET. 

We stopped first at a very handsome place, Y , the 

property of Capt. M . 

This is the old estate of the Oxenstiern family, famous in 
Swedish history. It had the only real park I have yet seen on 
a private property : a grove of magnificent oaks and beeches, 
broken up with knolls and lawns, and little lakes and arbors, 
stretching down to the very shores of the sea. It is laid out 
in the best English style. The owner, a hearty hospitable 
soldier, took us over it, showing with much pride the grand 
trees. Some were as fine as any in our American forests. 
Only a few elms were to be seen ; the trees were principally 
knotty oaks, with rich foliage, and the compact, clean, mus- 
cular beech, with its twinkling little leaves. As is usual, an 
orangery and conservatory, were in one part of the grounds. 
The European chestnut begins here to grow in the open air. 

The house or Hall is a quiet unpretending building, with 
large old halls and chambers. We spent some time exam- 
ining the paintings, of which, the collection though small, is 
valuable. The choicest were some pieces of the Holland 
school. 

899 



400 The Norse-Folk. 

Our reception in the family was kind and hospitable. We 
dined with them ; the table was served in the usual Swedish 
style, with much simplicity, for people' occupying such a 
position. 

CARLSCRONA 

We found here a very good inn, and after a comfortable 
night's rest, proceeded to see the great attraction, the dry- 
docks and the shipping. The town itself is a pleasant one, 
with the air of a fortified or military station. 

Two young noblemen, officers, to whom we had letters, 
accompanied us, and were very polite and attentive. They 
both spoke English, and had visited America as common 
sailors. Many of the officers, they say, serve in foreign 
marines for the sake of the experience, and some even in the 
merchant service. We found five new frigates in dock, and 
we went aboard of one line-of-battle ship, the Carl Johan, 
fitted with a screw propeller. Our officers complained much 
of want of service. They had hoped for a brush with Russia. 
The service is overrun, they say, with young men from the 
noble families, who merely come in to find a berth, without 
really taking an interest in their profession. 

SWEDISH FLEET. 

The force is 1300 guns, on 10 two-decked line of battle 
ships, 6 frigates, 4 corvettes, 3 brigs, 100 gunboats (schoon- 
ers), 125 other boats, T mortar-boats, 9 steamers, 21 mes- 
senger vessels. 

Fersonnel. — 228 officers, 35 marine regiment officers, 280 



Swedish Marine. 401 

petty officers, 40 non-commissioned officers, 255 boys, 400 
apprentices, 150 gunners, 800 marine soldiers, 5694 seamen 
(furnished from naval militia), 2421 extra seamen, 25,000 
conscripts (liable to service in time of war), 2500 merchant- 
seamen (similarly liable). 

Officers. — 1 admiral, 1 vice-admiral, 13 rear-admirals, 5 
commodores, 10 commodore captains, 20 commanders, 60 
captain-lieutenants, 60 first lieutenants, 60 second lieuten- 
ants, 30 supernumerary lieutenants. 

MINISTRY OF MARINE. 

In Sweden, the Minister of Marine is member of the 
Council and the Cabinet, and adviser of the king in naval 
mattei^. He issues the Royal orders, and has chief com- 
mand in the navy, and makes all appointments, high or low. 

There are two bureaus in this ministry. One for affairs 
before the Council of State, called "Bureau of Office Af- 
fairs," the other for affairs of ordinance, called " Bureau 
of Command." The chief of the first may be a civil officer, 
appointed by the king ; the chief of the second must be a 
naval officer. 

Under the care of the Ministry of Marine is an institu- 
tion, called " Administration of Marine Affairs," which is 
in the form of a College, and consists of a chief (an ad- 
miral), two other superior officers of the navy, and one 
member of the civil service. 

This is subdivided thus : 1. Bureau of Construction ; 
2. Bureau of Pilots ; 3. Bureau of Maritime Charts ; 4. Bu- 
reau of Accounts. 



402 The Nokse-Folk. 

The duties of Naval College are, general inspection of 
naval affairs, control of pecuniary means, of material and 
of workmen at all stations, superintendence of naval esta- 
blishments, purveying of clothing and provisions, hydro- 
graphical operations, pilots, lights-houses and signals. 

Corps. — Officers of navy, officers of construction, officers 
of mechanicians, sub-officers of marine, with sailors, work- 
men, and coast-guard. 

Budget (1853). — $5tl,t00 per annum, voted at every 
Parliament for three years. 

Education is obtained at the Military School at Carls- 
berg. A corvette with fourteen young officers is annually 
sent out on an expedition for ten months, to train for 
service. 

THE MERCANTILE MARINE. 

In 1840, the Parliament made an appropriation of $4,000 
per annum for naval schools, which they subsequently in- 
creased to $5,500 for the purchase of books and instru- 
ments. The Terms are from May to October. At the end 
of each, examination qualifies for masters and mates of 
1st and 2d class. 

Masters of 1st class can command in all seas. Masters 
of 2d class can only sail to European and Mediterranean 
ports. No mate can sail beyond the Baltic without passing 
two examinations. 

One of the most useful and practical naval institutions 
in Sweden is 



The Seaman's House. 403 



THE seaman's house. 



Each port must have one, under the government of a com- 
mittee, a magistrate and a sea captain, called Director. The 
duties of the director are to register all vessels belonging to 
the town, to control their certificates, to see that they pay 
the poor-rates to the community, to provide that every vessel 
leaving port be duly provisioned and manned, to settle petty 
differences, register apprentices, give a list of crews, and to 
see that they are regularly paid off in proper proportion. 
He is also charged with the promotion of sailors, according 
to their merits. When a commander wants a crew, he 
goes to the Seaman's House, and chooses mcices and men 
in presence of the Director. The latter makes a list of 
the crew, on which every person writes his name. After 
this, the captain, mates, and men are mustered at the Town 
Hall, and swear in the presence of the magistrate to obey 
the navigation laws, etc., etc. The list is signed by the 
magistrate, and from that moment, the crew belong to the 
ship for the time and distance agreed. 

When a crew is paid off from a ship, the Director of 
the ''House" musters them in presence of the commander, 
and receives them back from his hands. 

Every seaman enrolled in the Seaman's House is freed 
from conscription, except in war, when he is bound to 
serve in the royal navy, if called upon, having the usual pay.* 

* These statistics and facts have been gathered by the Hon. F. 
Schroeder, Minister at the Swedish Court, and furnished to the author. 



404: The ]!!Toese-Folk. 

It appears from all this, that in the education of a Swe- 
dish seaman, knowledge of a ship's husbandry, the stowage 
of cargo, exchange, etc., etc., is reckoned a necessary part. 
The Seaman's House also gives great facilities for ascertain- 
ing the character of both crew and commanders on the mer- 
chant ships. There is less probability of tyranny, or of 
mutiny, with such an arrangement. Many of the first class 
merchant-vessels are commanded by Lieutenants of the 
Navy, who take the place for the sake of the experience 
gained. ***** 

BLEKING. 

Sep. . — The ride south from Carlscrona is a beauti- 
ful one. It is like journeying through a park ; the land- 
scape is a gently undulating country, with scattered groves 
of oaks and beeches. The crops look finely, and the grass is 
more rich than any I have yet seen in Sweden. With a rich 
afternoon sun-light gleaming across through the branches, 
and the distant aspects of the sea, it makes a ride to be r^"^ 
membered. Posting is now very agreeable. I obtained in 
Kalmar, an easy old carriage, looking like a cast-off family 
chariot, which moves on very comfortably, so that in 
uninteresting districts we can post all night. At every 
Station, usually once in seven miles, we get a fresh pair 
of horses. The carriage is to be sent back by steamer 
from Malmd. A gentleman from Kalmar has kindly offered 
to accompany as guide and travelling-companion. We sent 
on orders for horses at certain hours, and as usual, are some 



Scania. 405 

two hours or more, too late, so that at every station, we 
pay wait-money ; a thing which slightly exasperates my com- 
panion, though I bear it philosophically. We are now in 
Bleking, the outskirts of the old Danish kingdom of Scania 
or Skonia, the provinces which have so often been lost and 
regained in Swedish history. Here flourished the first Nor- 
thern civiHzation and commerce, when Germany and Jutland 
were covered with dense forests.* 

Smaland separated this kingdom from its enemy and 
rival on the North, Gothland. 

They tell us that even yet, the feud rages between the 
Blekingers and the Smalanders. The only traces one can 
see of the Danish influence, are the high thatched peaked 
roofs of the cottages, and the smaller number of out-houses 
— both of which are peculiarities of Holstein at this day, as 
compared with North Sweden. The accent of the people is 
decidedly different. 

I was never so impressed, as on this whole Swedish jour- 
ney, with the multitude among men of the workers in the 
groun I. We speak of the scholars and gentlemen and 
ladies as the important class, and in one view they are. But 
after all, what mere exceptions are the rich and the cul- 
tured, if one considers the great masses of humanity. The 
millions in all ages and countries, have belonged to the 
ground, have tilled, and sown, and reaped in weariness and 
much toil. When we think of the world, it should not be 
as a world of shopmen, or priests, or gentlemen, but as a 

* Geijer. 



4:06 The Noese-Folk. 

world of weary, begrimed, toilsome workers in the old 
mother Earth. 

This is the rich part of Sweden, From these provinces 
she begins to export her wheat, though, but a few years ago, 
she never raised enough for her own consumption. This 
prosperity is partly due to improved agriculture, and partly 
to the fact that the wheat is so much less used for dis- 
tilling. 

Sweden, owing to the bad system of culture, has always 
had a difficulty in supporting her population on her own 
grains. In ancient times, many a king has been immolated 
or murdered after a bad harvest. It was this cause un- 
doubtedly, which sent off so many of her sons in the early 
piratical expedition of the Vikings. 

One of our drivers to-day was the ownei of the horses, 
and a wealthy Bonder. He was a Secretary of the Parish- 
meeting, and my companion always addressed him by his 
title. We were both much struck with the number of 
drunken people we had met, both in Carlskrona and the 
neighborhood — more than I had seen in all the rest of 
Sweden. Our driver explained it from the influence of the 
sailors at the city, and from the fact that there were no 
local laws to prevent it, as in Kalmar and other places. 
The tax fixed by government could not in this region quite 
put an end to distilling, though it had much checked it. 

" Does Herr Socken Skrifvaren know of much emigra- 
tion to America from these parts ?" said my companion. 

" Many hundreds from my village," he answered. "Fools I 



A D R I V E R . 407 

they could do much better at home. Sweden wants every 
one now. But it is this cursed L'dseri (Methodism) !" 
" Why, how is that ? What have Ldsarne to do with 

it r 

" They turn every one upside down," he answered. ''They 
make disturbances and break the law, and then, Herr 
Resande (traveller) knows, they must be punished ; and so 
they go to carry on their accursed doings in America. 
Fbrhanna dem ! Damn them !" 

"You see," said my companion, ''no one believes in 
Ldsarne here." ■ 

"But will Herr Socken Skrifvaren tell us, if these men 
are really immoral?" I asked. He was obliged to own 
that they were not, so far as he knew — though he had 
heard they had night-dances naked together, and certainly 
they did not believe in the holy Church I 

My companion then inquired for me, of his opinions 
of his pastor. His replies were substantially the same 
which we hear everywhere, and fully justified the Ldsarne. 
A selfish, grasping, worldly man, who had gone into his pro- 
fession for the purpose of getting a comfortable living — so 
he, in effect, pictured his spiritual guide. This fact and the 
Methodism he did not put together at all ; and we did not 
press him on the conclusion. 



o'\. 



M 



CHAPTER XXXYI. 



CASTLE L- 



I HAVE just been over Castle L , the property of a 

gentleman whom I have been visiting. The family resides 
in the summer at a country-seat among the trees, a few 
miles distant, and our host, Count X., has driven us over to 
see the old castle. All this part of Sweden is a perfectly 
level plain, sprinkled with innumerable boulders and small 
stones, which have been brought here from some dis- 
tance. The castle is built in the midst of this plain, begirt 
with a moat and some pleasant old gardens, and a few large 
trees, carefally planted and guarded. The building is a 
turreted brick structure, with somewhat of the pointed 
Gothic in ihe style, built around three sides of a square. It 
has been burned and rebuilt three times, and the Count 
showed us yet in the doors the bullet-holes from the last 
attack, made, if I understood correctly, by an assault of the 
Danes in the Middle Ages. 

With all the antique appearance of the outside, the 
rooms within are light, cheerful, modern apartments. The 
floors are the parquette flooripg" of different woods, with 
rugs or pieces of rich carpet in the centre. 

408 



Castle-Furniture. 409 

The ornaments, bas-reliefs and small objects of art are 
graceful and pleasing. The paintings are principally por- 
traits. One of the saloons is crowded with them, making a 
history of its walls. The family is an old Swedish family of 
distinction, and below each picture are names loaded with 
historic titles. My companion, who is familiar with the 
detail of Swedish annals, calls up something about each ; 
and the Count, who at first courteously said nothing of the 
paintings, is drawn out to speak of the old faces. One had 
been killed at Pultowa ; others had the costume which they 
wore in a glorious imprisonment in Siberia ; others belonged 
to the unforgotten days of Gustavus Adolphus ; another — 
a lady's face, blooming with exquisite beauty — was the 
face of the renowned beauty at the court of one of the 
Gustafs. 

Some of the fair faces of the past were beautifully pre- 
served, the coloring of the portraits as fresh and life-like 
as on the cheek of its original. Courtly or historic anec- 
dotes of each were related by the Count, and the hour with 
the old paintings was an hour with the old Swedish history. 

In one of the large saloons was a full length portrait of 
one of the present young princes. The most noticeable thing 
about the furniture of the rooms was the draping of the 
doors from one drawing-room to another, so that the hard 
angular character of the door-way was relieved. We visited 
the library and study — ^little snug, practical-looking rooms, 
where Count X. experiments in natural science. He showed 
me there a secret seal of a society of Free-Masons, bearing 

date Rbda Rosen, 1802 — founded by B , of Hesse. He 

18 



410 The Nokse-Folk. 

had obtained it direct from reliable parties ; and it bore out all 
that the worst enemies of the Masons have ever said of them. 
It was an exceedingly lecherous and coarse representation. 

The Masons are making great progress at this time with 
the nobility of Sweden. The princes themselves are said to 
have joined the society. 

In one room, was shown us, preserved in a glass case, an 
antique drinking-horn set with silver in the style of the 
ancient horns of the first Norse period, preserved in the Mu- 
seums, together with an ivory or bone whistle. A curious 
legend is connected with this, which I will relate as it was 
related to me. The book of visitors to this precious relic was 
handed me, and I put my name in it— the first American's 
that had been written there. 

We drove back in an easy little brougham with two pow- 
erful horses. The count's place is one of the most unpro- 
mising situations in Sweden, in the midst of this vast plain 
— on one side, the debris of a torrent of stones which 
have been scattered over all this country, and on the 
other, a desert of sand which previously had been encroach- 
ing steadily on his cultivated land. The stones he has 
made into walls, and has cleared where it could be done ; 
the sand he has resisted by plantations of pines. The work 
which he has done in his life-time, in sowing or planting 
forests where had been barrens, and giving shade and valu- 
able wood to his posterity, is wonderful. We rode mile 
after mile through forests of pines, and over hills with well- 
grown beeches and oaks, all of which he himself had had 
set out. On one estate, there were 75 Tunland cultivated 



^ The Estate. 411 

when he came, now there are 950. He has planted over 
4,000 acres with valuable trees. 

The estate is the largest, I suppose, in Southern Sweden, 
It contains three or four churches and a number of schools 
which were built or are the property of Count X. He him- 
self is a historic character in Sweden. He was in high 
public service under King Charles XHI., preceding Berna- 
dotte ; had a share in the Revolution, was minister under 
Bernadotte, and, I think, was once in the cabinet of the 
present king. But for some cause, he suddenly left pubhc 
life many years since, and has devoted himself ever since to 
the care and improvement of his vast estate, and to the pur- 
suits of natural sciences. He has been frequently recalled by 
the voice of the nation and of the king to the public councils, 
but he has held himself in retirement. His title is strictly high- 
er than count — Excelhnz, which corresponds perhaps to duke. 

The approach to the villa is through quite formal avenues, 
of beech, I think, bringing us first in sight of the high-peaked 
brick barns, inlaid with wooden beams, like the timber- 
houses of England. On one side is a garden and a thick 
grove of trees, with pleasant walks along a clear little 
stream — all laid out by the proprietor. The villa has the 
usual arrangement of three or four separate little houses, 
each hardly two stories high. The guests in one, the ser- 
vants in another, and the family in a third. An especial 
servant has charge of us and our apartments. 

Several guests and their families — officers and noblemen 
—are visiting the house, together with some very agreea- 
ble ladies. The old nobleman is a complete host — a very 



412 The Nokse-Folk. 

courteous and dignified gentleman, but adapting himself 
to every one wonderfully, and giving you the impression 
of great sincerity and character. He speaks English, French 
or German, as the words come most readily to him. 

The style of living is generous and simple, much like an 
English country gentleman's, or that of our American fami- 
lies of wealth, whose property is mostly in the country. 
With less extravagance of wines perhaps, but with a certain 
greater ease and quietude of house-keeping — a result of the 
training of the servants. I understood that there were fifty 
or sixty of these on the place, but probably only a small part 
are house-servants. These are all under the charge of an 
Inspector, who keeps the business-accounts of the estate. 

The meals are much more Enghsh-like than is customary in 
Sweden, and are served by two servants in liveries. Break- 
fast is taken together at nine, and not in the bed-rooms as 
in Germany. 

The family and guests are thoroughly well-bred, simple, 
lively and unconscious, entering into a stranger's objects 
with much sympathy, and making the home genial by their 
kindness and informality. It is noticeable that they always, 
talk with each other in the language which the guest uses 
at the time. 

We were sitting out at twilight under the beech trees, 
and one of the ladies said in EngHsh, "We find the Ameri- 
can-English much faciler to understand than the English we 
usually hear. We have observed it before." 

I said it might be that our habits of public speaking in 



Music. 413 

America gave us greater distinctness of enunciation. The 
English considered us finical in this. 

" We get most charming sensations of America from Mis- 
tress Bremer," said one. '' Oh, those forests primeval I — 
but she must paint en heau ! Surely there cannot be so 
many wonderful personages in any one country ! Are you 
so musical as she thinks ?" 

I thought American taste was improving each year, and 
asked what music was best liked in Sweden. " Oh, ever 
the German ! Some play the Italian, and it is easier 
indeed ; but for most, the classical German is the favorite. 
It suits our serious Norrland-nature." 

I spoke of the interest I had felt in the old superstitions, 
and of my impressions of the Swedish character, as con- 
nected with them. 

They allowed that they were true generally — that a great 
proportion of educated people did still believe them, " But 
you should hear our legend — the legend of the whistle and 
horn which you saw in the castle !" said one of the ladies. 
" No one is permitted to cast a doubt on that 1 Tell it, 

F I" After a little struggle, a young girl was induced 

to relate it in French. 

THE LEGEND. 

There was once a terrible giant in Y^ , who lived in 

the mountain, way up at the west there. While he lived 
there, some pious Christians built a church near the sea, 

at . It was fifty miles off, but the giant could not 

help hearing the singing of the holy nuns, and it grieved 



414 The Norse-Folk. 

liim. Every morning and evening when he listened to the 
chantiugs, he became more angry, until at length he took 
up a great stone, as large as our house there, and threw it 
with all his might at the church. But it broke in two with- 
out reaching it, and one piece fell not far from here." 

" You passed it this morning,'' interrupted one. " It was 
the large boulder near the village." 

For a long time, no one observed anything especial 
about this stone, and it was not suspected that the wicked 
mountain-folk — the little Trolls — came there. But at last, 
stories got about, that the elves were in the habit of raising 
this stone on golden pillars and dancing under it. Fru 

Cisela, a grand lady, lived then in Castle L , and she 

heard of this, and became possessed with a great desire to 
know something of the wicked elves ; so she promised gold 
and jewels to any one of her huntsmen who should visit 
this giant's stone when the Trolls were there. The Trolls, 
you know, always dance on Christmas morn, between cock- 
crowing and daybreak. At first, no one ventured to go, 
but finally a brave young huntsman volunteered, and on the 
Christmas eve rode forth to the stone. When he came near 
by, he heard the noise of music and dancing, and he saw 
the great rock raised up on golden pillars, and bright lights 
underneath. And there were a host of beautiful little 
fairies, dancing and singing and drinking, as if mad ; they 
wound abotit among each other, and flew and whirled like 
the leaves in a whirlwind ; and there was one of them who 
was the most beautiful creature ever seen. She had a 
diamond-crown, and a little whistle in her hand ; it was the 



The Legend. 415 

queen of the elves. When she saw the bold huntsman, she 
ran towards him and welcomed him, and he was so charmed 
with her, that he hardly knew what he was doing. She 
then told her servants to offer him drink, and they brought 
him a horn, full of some not very pleasant-looking drink. 
He was just tasting it, when his good angel whispered to 
him that he would forget everything which he had been, 
and become only an elf, if he tasted. So he dashed the 
drink on the ground, snatched the whistle from the queen, 
and spurred his horse away. Where the drops fell on his 
horse from the horn, the hide was burnt. The elves followed 
him close, shrieking and crying fearfully. He crossed him- 
self often, and the horse flew like the wind, so that the elves 
did not quite reach him. When he came near the castle, 
the portcullis was down, and the Lady and her guards stood 
waiting for him. They knew if he could only get over the 
moat, the Trolls could not injure him. At length, he sprung 
upon the bridge, was over, and it . was drawn up. Then 
there stood on the other side, the wicked elves, moaning 
and crying piteously, '' Give us our horn and our whistle ! 
Oh ! give them to us !" And the queen of the elves came 
forward, and offered countless gold and diamonds to the 
Lady Cisela, if she would give up the horn and whistle. 
But the Lady replied, '' Thou wicked imp ! thou shalt never 
have again thy horn and whistle ! They shall remain here, 
and thou mayst cry, till ye all come to judgment at dooms- 
day !" Then the queen said that if they kept those elfin 
things, they must guard them carefully, for when they 
should be taken away, then should the castle be burned 



416 The JSTokse-Folk. 

down. And Lady Cisela answered, " Begone, ye goblins I 
In the name of Jesu, begone ! " and at that word they all 
vanished into the air, and were never seen any more — 
though sometimes now, the servants think they hear them 
round the castle. The horn and whistle were kept and 
exhibited ; but in a few days, the bold huntsman who got 
them, and his horse beside, died very suddenly. 

The horn and whistle were in the castle a good many 
years, until the Danes attacked it and carried them both off 
to Denmark — then it was that the castle burned down the 
first time. . So the things were brought back, and as they 
were visited and touched by so many people, they became a 
little injured, and were sent away to be mended — when sud- 
denly the castle burned down again. A third time, a hun- 
dred years later, people forgot the elfin queen's warning, and 
sent away the relics for some reason or other, and again the 
building was burned. The family that owned them — the 
Ulftands — died out ; and now they are in grandfather's 
family and kept in a glass case, so that nobody can touch 
them 1 So there you have my long goblin story I" 

" Bravo ! Good ! Good !" we all answered. 

I found afterwards a long-printed narration of the legend. 
The story is placed in 1490, 1 think. The relics are genuine 
antiquities, all scholars allow. 

THE TROLLS. 

My friends gave me many curious facts of these little 
people, as the peasants believe them. There are such a 
number of superstitions about them, that some scholars 



Fairies. 417 

have thought that the primeval inhabitants of Sweden 
might, possibly, in some of the deep forests, have survived 
till modern times. 

The boulders and rocking-stones, so common on the 
plains of Sweden, are always attributed to the Trolls. 
Usually, it is their hatred to Christianity which has led 
them to throw these at some church. There are a num- 
ber of families which still derive their descent from the 
minghng of the children of men with these creatures. 
Many of the Trolls are seen on the uninhabited rocks and 
islets which abound on the coast of Sweden, whither they 
were driven by the early Christians, 

"Some sailors belonging to Bohuslan," says Thorpe, "when once 
driven on a desert shore, by a storm, found a giant sitting on a stone 
by a fire. He was old and blind, and rejoiced at hearing the Northmen, 
because he was himself from their country. He requested one of them 
to approach and give him his hand, " that I may know," said he, 
"whether there is yet strength in the hands of the Northmen." The 
old man, being blind, was not sensible that they took a great boat- 
hook, which they heated in the fire and held out to him. He squeezed 
the hook as if it had been wax, shook his head, and said, "I find 
the Northmen now have but little strength in their hands compared 
with those of old." 

A noble family in Sweden, the Trolle, derive their name 
from a bold deed of one of their ancestors, who struck off a 
Troll queen's head that offered him magic drink in her hora 
The horn was long preserved in the Cathedral of Wexio. 

It is supposed that the offspring of the Trolls are count- 
less, but that they die when it thunders. 

18* 



CHAPTER XXXYII. 

TABLE-TALK. 

We rode to-day over parts of the count's estate, and 
visited the schools and churches. He has the "patron's 
right " with regard to the clergymen ; the peasants tell him 
they would not wish him to give this up to them ; they like 
his selections. One of the churches was built on the banks 
of a lake, in very tasteful style. 

We were in a little industrial school, managed by Coun- 
tess X., where the children of the Tor pare — the poor 
tenants, who do so many days' labor in the year for their 
rent — come for instruction. There were classes in weaving, 
sewing, and in out-door garden-work. As we entered, the 
eternal catechism was being droned over. I made some 
remark on the Swedish method of religious instruction as 
we were driving away. The count shrugged his shoulders, 
and said something about its being impracticable to go 
against the current of your day in such matters, and the 
subject dropped. These day-labor tenants seem a wretched 
class — as miserable as our Irish shanty-population at home. 
We passed their cabins, set down amid this drift of boulders 
and stones, and girded with a few acres of the most hopeless 

418 



Jury. 419 

land for tillage which can be found in barren Scandinayia. 
They are frequently tenants of tenants, and pay, by a listless 
doing of jobs here and there, for their wretched tenements 
and grounds. 

The old Hbferi, which used to prevail in Scania, in which 
the peasants were bound to work like serfs, is now entirely 
abolished. 

I was asking our host his opinion of the famous jury- 
system among the Bonders, of which I have spoken so 
much. He believed it excellent as a means of education in 
legal matters, but had no confidence whatever in the jury in 
any country — not even in England, where he had personally 
seen its workings. 

He told me of an instance lately in an adjoining county, 
where these jurymen had unanimously voted against the 
judge, and so carried the day. It was in a singular case. 
A congregation found its pulpit vacant, and summoned in 
one or two candidates to preach. One of these preachers 
in his sermon held out certain pecuniary inducements for 
accepting him. This was considered a fit cause of legal 
complaint, and he was called before the Ting, and condemned 
thus by the jury. What the punishment was, I did not hear. 

In driving through one of the Count's woods, the forest- 
master met us, riding in top-boots on a hunter. He was an 
old soldier, I believe. His manner, as that of all the fol- 
lowers, was very appropriate towards the old nobleman — 
manly, but full of regard and respectful feeling. He took 
us to a beautiful point of view ; and showed with pride the 
multitude of trees he himself had set out. 



420 TheNoese-Folk. 



DINNER. 

The same customs prevail here of handing out to dinner, 
as elsewhere, in formal companies. The conversation is 
very lively ; wine is scarcely drunk ; the dishes are much the 
same as I have hitherto described. While at table, the 
mail came, and with it the Stockholm paper, containing a 
long article on the latest news from Kansas ! which was 
eagerly read to me — every one wishing full information on a 
struggle in which they began to feel the deepest interest. 
The action of the House of Representatives in refusing 
supplies to the army, was read from the same journal. 
Here the military men at table were very inquisitive, and 
fearful for the stability of our institutions. I put the 
defence on the strong constitutional ground, so often shown 
forth in English history, of holding the purse-strings against 
the oppression of one part of the government. 

Everywhere in Sweden is the deepest interest in these 
questions. 

Mention was made of Lallerstedt's new work, " La Scan- 
dinavie, ses esperances et ses craintes" — a book written in 
French by a Swede, strongly on the French stand-point, 
attacking Bernadotte for his separation from Napoleon, and 
urging the union of Sweden with the allies in the Russian 
War. The designs of Russia on the Northern coasts of 
Norway are very vividly pictured ; and the great loss in 
giving up Finland, in the disastrous years of 1809 and '10. 
The writer urges that a vigorous campaign, pressed with 



Policy towards France. 421 

the superior generalship of Bernadotte on the flank of the 
Russians through Finland, would have made Napoleon's 
invasion of Russia certain to succeed, and would have estab- 
lished Sweden in its original unity, as master of Finland, 
Sweden, and Norway. The present union of Sweden and 
Norway, he considers of very little advantage to the former 
country — Norway having most of the benefits with very 
little of the burdens, while Finland was an integral part of 
the Swedish kingdom. 

The Count had figured historically in these scenes, and so 
far as he expressed his opinion, agreed with the view of 
most persons outside of both France and Sweden — that 
Bernadotte's policy was justified by the results. The French 
Empire was an accidental, temporary thing ; but the rela- 
tions with the great Powers would probably be permanent 
and beneficial, both to Bernadotte's family and to Sweden. 

It was objected by some one at table, that these late 
papers of Schiukel (the published Correspondence of Carl 
Johan, issued under his own supervision) proved the King 
thoroughly selfish in his policy. 

" You see from them, he had his dynasty, not Sweden's 
interests, at heart. It is very plain that his ambition was 
to win the imperial crown of France, not to make Sweden 
a powerful kingdom." 

''And yet," answered another gentleman, "see what he 
did make of Sweden. He found her plundered and de- 
spoiled, and just on the verge of utter destruction, and he 
made her at least respectable, and gave her Norway." 

''But," replied the first, "these very papers of Schinkel 



422 The Noese-Folk. 

show that he had everything his own way, when he had the 
conference with the Czar at Abo. Alexander was prepared 
to yield Finland, if he pressed it." 

" Still, he could never have held it," was the answer. 
" What an eternal bone of strife would Finland have been 
to us ! Where would have been the natural boundary for 
us to defend ?" 

* ^1^ ^^ ^» ^^ ^^ fct» 

1* 1* *^ ^ ^ ifi 

" It is true," said a lady next me in English, " we have 
not in Sweden a so great admiration as formerly for King 
Charles John. He seems so self-looking — how call you ? — 
no : selfish." 

" But a remarkable man ! A wonderful man in many 
respects," said the Count in German. " He was by nature 
an orator and a true citizen-king. He liked to speak, and 
he liked the people. Still, it was very difficult for us to get 
on with him. At one time, it would be, with a fiery enthu- 
siasm, ' Moi — je suis Repuhlicain ! No such measure must 
be proposed to me.^ At another, when some parties had 
offended him — ' Les ReheUes ! They should be shot I' He 
had great executive and strategic talent. Schinkel shows 
clearly that the plan of the campaign, even to the great 
closing in Leipsic, was the King's." 

A story was told here of Bernadotte, which has been in 
print, though it is not common. 

He was commandant of a town in Hanover, and hap- 
pened to be present at a public dinner. An English officer 
was at the table, who had served in India. Bernadotte and 
the Englishman were recalling the campaigns, and at length 



Beenadotte. 423 

the officer related an adventure which had laid him under 
lasting obligations to the French. He was attacking a 
redoubt, where he was struck down and just on the point of 
being murdered by some of the native troops, when a 
French officer sprung from the hostile defences, dispersed 
the assailants at the risk of his life, rescued him, and had 
him tended afterwards with the greatest kindness. He was 
never able to thank his deliverer, as circumstances called 
the French officer immediately to another point. 

Bernadotte listened with increasing emotion, and at the 
close, unable to restrain himself, rose, threw his arms around 
the neck of the Englishman, saying, " Ah ! mon frere ! 
c'etait moi ! It was 1 1 I had that good fortune I" And 
he related to the astonished company that he had had the 
opportunity to do the little service to an English officer in 
India, but he had never met him till this day. 

AU were deeply affected at the coincidence, and the most 
fraternal feelings were the result between the French and 
Enghsh officers. 

After retiring to his quarters, the Aide of Bernadotte 
said to him, " Are you not mistaken, mon General ? You 
were not in India on that year ; you were, you remember, 
in so and so I" 

" I know it, mon cher. I never saw the man before or 
heard the story. But it was some Frenchman ; and we 
must keep up the glory of the great nation, you under- 
stand ! It would not do to let such an opportunity 
escape 1" 

*^u «^ «^ ^Sm %t^ 

w^ '^ *^ ^^ ^^ 



424 The Koese-Folk. 

Another gentleman, an old statesman, familiar with the 
court of Gustavus lY., gave some droll stories of the 
trouble they had with the King in his country palace, at 
Drottningholm, near Stockholm. 

There was a forlorn arbor in the grounds, where, after 
dinner, the courtiers sat in sombre silence, and took their 
coffee. It was looked upon as an abode of sorrowful spirits 
as the King liked no merriment or conversation in his pre- 
sence. On the Sundays, the crowd always pressed into the 
neighborhood of this arbor, and stared at the distinguished 
party. A.t first, the King would swear and send out a ser- 
vant ; then, as party after party came to gape and look, he 
dispatched others — ministers and gentlemen ; but it was 
like keeping away a crowd from some wonderful shop-win- 
dow in a city street. Wave after wave of population came 
pouring in, and was only diverted by the rods of the ushers 
and the requests of the gentlemen of the court. At length, 
the King, with a fearful ^^ Sacrament P^ rushed out himself, 
small stick in hand, to keep back the vulgar mass, to their 
immense amazement and amusement ; and the ministers 
were obliged to send for the guards to protect the arbor. 

Bernadotte, on the other hand, liked nothing better, they 
said, than to sit in these gardens and be stared at. He 
never had any guards, and talked sociably with every one. 

The dethroning of Gustavus lY., in 1809, was vividly 
described by some who had taken part in it. The whole 
country had become so thoroughly disgusted with him and 
his insane efforts to set Sweden in opposition to France and 
all Europe, that a conspiracy among the nobles was neces- 



The Revolution. 425 

sary to avert a revolution. The nation had already lost 
Finland through his folly, and feared even for the existence 
of Sweden as an independent government, if Gustavus was 
allowed to go on in his reckless measures. The plans of the 
noblemen opposed to the king were well arranged ; the 
guards had been bribed or removed, and all seemed certain; 
when on the 13th of March, they rushed in on him in his 
apartments, and Baron Adlercreutz demanded his sword. 
The king is said to have drawn it with fury, and for a, 
moment there was danger of bloodshed. When disarmed, 
there was still another moment of terrible suspense, when 
the king, by a ruse, escaped through a secret door, and 
rushed out in the court-yard, to arouse those of his guards 
who were yet faithful. By good chance, a powerful life- 
guardsman of their own party met him just as he was burst- 
ing forth. Gustavus had still another weapon, and drew ii 
upon him ; but the soldier first threw his arms around him, 
and thus holding him helpless, bore him within the palace 
before any outcry was aroused. Here he was confined, and 
afterwards transferred to Brottningholm. A regemt was 
appointed, and in May, when the Diet met, he and his pos- 
terity were declared incapable of wearing the crown, and 
Charles XIII. was called to the throne. 

The Swedish people have never forgiven this monarch the 
disgraceful loss of Finland, nor the treachery in which his 
admiral, Cronstedt, gave up the Swedish fleet, and the 
almost impregnable fortress of Sveaborg, to the Russian 
army. 

I was much interested to find that the count and other 



426 The ]^oese-Folk. 

gentlemen who had figured in those events, did not hold 
Cronstedt for the thorough villain and traitor which the 
majority of Swedes regard him to be. They considered him 
weak ; but they said the Russians, during the siege of 
Sveaborg, managed to introduce Stockholm papers and 
forged letters, announcing the complete prostration of 
Sweden under the French emperor, and declaring that the 
only hope was to yield everything to the Russians, and 
secure at least their assistance ; so that the admiral was 
utterly deceived and mistaken. 

They stated also that Cronstedt never received any 
marked honors or pay afterwards from the Russians, but 
lived in retirement and disgrace. 

Late disclosures show that the secret articles of the 
treaty of Tilsit, in 180t, gave up Finland to Russia, and 
that Denmark was to be compelled to make over her fleet 
to France, and to join in the confederation against England. 

%i^ xl« %i^ ^^ ^^ «1^ «^ 

^^ ^J* *J» 'J^ 'P* ^^ *^ 

In speaking of the question we had been at first discuss- 
ing, I mentioned a conversation I had lately had with one 
of the most cultivated men in Sweden — a man of long 
experience in public affairs, who said, I sincerely wish Sweden 
could have been put for three years under Napoleonh rule .'" 

They did not share my surprise at the sentiment. The 
admiration for the French and for the Great Emperor, was 
very deeply fixed in many Swedish minds. 

I told Count X. that, to me, coming from a public man, 
it seemed the most earnest confession I had yet heard of 
the backwardness of Sweden in all good organization. 



Benefits of Wealth. 427 

They would prefer temporary foreign conquest under an 
intelligent despot, to the present antiquated, awkward, slow 
machinery of government. 

*i* ^f J* »jj^ ^j^ J, 

J^ *f* *J* *^ >J^ ^|x 

(I There is not such a furore for the French in society 
as there used to be," said a lady near me. " Of course, we 
must take the modes from them ; but in reading and such 
things, we go now to England and America." \ 

'' Your health I" said the Count, drinking and rising. 
" You see we have not the English custom of drinking 
alone, without the ladies. Have you in America ?" 

>t' ^t* St* ^If ^l* *4* 

>jS <J* >f» 'T* >Jx ^js 

As I have said before, the impression one gets of the 
ladies of the upper classes in Sweden is delightful. We are 
too apt, perhaps, in theory to decry the advantages of 
wealth, though we overvalue them in fact. There are cer- 
tain great benefits possible from it, and yet, by a happy 
providence, they are all attainable in modern days without 
extravagant means. I wrote at the time these words, and 
they seem still true. 

" Wealth (with rank) produces a kind of rej)ose — a habit 
of security and home-feeling, and a screened delicacy, which 
is truly something worth. It gives the habit of using the 
best, and the custom of luxury (which is not of much 
value), and more self or circumstance-trust, so that the 
bearer has a calmness and dignity as of one controlling, not 
controlled. It does not give, as of course, taste, or quick- 
ness, or education ; but it shields, it quiets the storms which 
beat about the young growth, and takes away the coarse 



428 The Nor se- Folk . 

necessities, which may wear off a little of the delicacy of 
the soul. 

" Oue would suppose that a connection with a noble 
historic past would pledge the inheritor to as noble action 
in the present ; and as we of New England feel yet the 
earnest presence and heroic purpose of our national fore- 
fathers, so to the individual a cloud of witnesses, of gener- 
ous and wise men, consecrated by history, of his own blood 
and family, would be an impulse in the struggle for good. 
It does not, however, anywhere appear to be the fact. 
Even as, in America, many of the direct descendants of the 
Pilgrims and the Revolutionary heroes, are among those 
most recreant to liberty, so, the world over, has the mantle 
of the past taken the place of its spirit, with those nearest 
bound by blood to its heroism. 

" That nature is the nearest complete which has the deli- 
cate touch, the sheltered fineness, and the sweet calmness of 
good circumstances, with the robust habit of exertion, and 
the use to unpleasant realities of poverty ; and such natures 
we believe to be found especially in America." 

As I went to the guest-house at night, in the still moon- 
light,, the wonderful repose of the old place seemed height- 
ened by the monotonous chant of the night-watchman, patrol- 
ling in some part of the estate — 

" Hor vacktaren ropa ! 
Klockan elfva slagen !" 

" Hear the watchman cry ! 
Eleven o'clock is striking !" 

Sleep is pleasant after such days, and Swedish beds are 

good'. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII, 



SOUTH-SWEDEN. 



The post-stations through Scania are so uncertain that 
we were obliged to send Forhud, or a messenger on horse- 
back to order horses. If a mail happens to go through at 
the right time, one can always send one's orders by it very 
cheaply. In this case, there was an addition of half the 
expense to every station. We posted, the day after leaving 
Count X.'s, about 10 miles south, over a flat, barren coun- 
try, through moors with occasional patches of buckwheat 
and potatoes surrounding the sparse farm-houses — the stormy 
sea here and there visible on our left when we reached a 
higher ground. 

A depressing, monotonous ride. It proved fortunate that 
we had ordered the horses, as a party of gentry, with four 
carriages, had engaged ten horses at each station. They 
passed us at one station, in very elegant travelling carriages 
— the gentlemen themselves, in some of them, sitting on the 
box. It was evening when, in the rain and mud, we 
reached Ystad, and were lodged in a kind of parlor at the 
principal hotel, the bedrooms being full. 

The hotels in South Sweden are certainly much better 

429 



430 The Norse-Folk. 

than in the north — though still poor enough. Ystad is a 
well-built, busy, little commercial town, on the southeastern 
coast of Sweden. 

A MODERN ESTATE. 

We stopped the next day at Baron Y.'s, to whom we 
had introductions. He is known as a nobleman who has 
deeply interested himself for the peasants, having written a 
book for them dedicated to a Bonder, and striven in various 
ways to improve their condition. The rumor is that his 
efforts have not been met with much gratitude. The wealthy 
freehold Bonders who live near him, do not like to have their 
modern extravagant habits criticised, and have resented his 
advice. They claim that they have the right to their silks 
and champagne as much as the gentry. 

The property of the baron is very pretty and new-looking 
— a great contrast to the quiet old place we had just 
left, with the settled air of antiquity about it. This is 
such as an American would lay out if he were suddenly 
placed in Sweden, with suf&cient means : — a new brick and 
stone villa — the two usual separate houses here added as 
wings, so that the house surrounded three sides of a square ; 
a garden carefully laid out with new walks, among many 
young trees, planted in the last ten years ; and new brick 
stables and barns, with high-pointed roofs, constructed on 
the best modern principles. The only thing ancient was a 
small grove of old trees, which had been religiously pre- 
served. The whole estate was enclosed from the bare, tree- 
less plain, with thick shrubbery. The house had the same 



Education of Peasants. 431 

modern air : liandsome rooms, opening into each other dn 
the ground floor — a rich hbrary of modern works — many 
engravings from the best living German and French artists, 
and a thousand tokens scattered about, expressed the Mfe of 
to-day. Our host was a travelled gentleman of considerable 
culture. 

He describes the Bonders in South Sweden as a class 
rapidly improving in means, and with increasing desires to 
raise themselves. He thinks many of them are losing too 
much of their old simplicity, and are aping the classes above 
them. They are generally in favor, he adds, of the new 
measures for education, and for building railroads. 

I asked him about the Bonder to whom he had dedicated 
his book. He replied that he was a most remarkable man 
— a person of much integrity and simplicity, and yet of 
talent. He had been member of Parliament, and had done 
very much for his class. He was greatly respected through 
all South Sweden. 

We rode out afterwards in the neighboring country, and 
visited some of the schools which he or the peasantry had 
opened. We passed, also, a new church, which the peas- 
ants were just building. He pointed out to us a number of 
fine properties belonging to the Bonders. "You see that 

large house with the high roof — that belongs to Eric S , 

a rich old fellow and proud. He likes our preacher — who, 
by the way, is a son of the famous Tegner — but he will not 
come there. He says he won't worship where there is some 
one who can look down on him. 

"There's another good Gut (farm) I" said he, in German 



432 The Norse- Folk. 

* That man there is spoiling his son. He thinks he must 
send him to the University, though he is hardly bright 
enough for the plough. If the Bauer would only first get a 
little common sense, before talking of the Universities 1" 

" But they must come up !" I said. " You can't keep 
them down I" _ 

" No ^ we do not wish to. But let them improve ration- 
ally. They need not complain ; they are the aristocracy. 
They have the power now." 

The agriculture in this part of Sweden is very good. 
The fields are generally under-drained ; the crops looks full, 
and the grain-stacks at the barns are immense. This 
increasing wealth among the farmers, is all from improved 
culture di the soil. They still want, and are ready for, 
improved machinery — especially for reaping and mowing. 

The baron desired much a list of English and American 
books, adapted for the people, which he might translate. 

I gave him all I could think of. It is a pity that those 
excellent early tales of Miss Sedgwick, designed for working 
people, should now be out of print. The "Temperance 
Tales," too, would be very useful in Sweden — though, from 
all appearances, the country is no worse in respect of 
intemperance, than most others. 

We were hospitably entertained at the baron's — the 
guest-house, with three comfortable warmed rooms being 
allotted us, and a footman to attend to our wants. Yery 
delicate fruit — grapes and apricots and plums — were brought 
in at the edge of evening, from the conservatories. We 
supped at 8 o'clock on a bountiful meal, and separated for 



A Tumulus. 433 

the night, with many cordial expressions and farewells, as 
we were to start away early the next morning. 

MALMO. 

On our way to this city, we visited the estates of some 
wealthy Bonders — men living as rich farmers would with us, 
plainly, but very comfortably, with many working people 

about them. 

Not far from Malmo, we passed one of the large tumuli^ 
where the old warriors, in the times of the Yikiugs, were 
laid, and perhaps where Kelt and Finn far back in the 
past have also burned or buried their dead. This hallowed 
spot is now used for a porter-cellar, and public gardens are 
laid out around it ! 

At Malmo, we merely stopped to change horses and go 
to a book-shop, before starting for Lund. Among the 
books for sale here, I found an English copy of Drcd, 
almost at the same time in which it appeared in America. 
The new (English) Leipsic edition of American authors — 
Hawthorne, Emerson, Curtis and others — was also here. 
Malmo is the capital of this province. 

LUND. 

An easy ride over a paved road of an hour and a half, 
brought us to the old University City Of Lund, Geijer 
says : "In the Sound, every summer of the ninth century 
saw the fleet of the Islesmen, which drew an ample freight 

10 



434: The Noese-Folk. 

of fish from the teeming coasts, or brought back meal, 
wheat and honey from the then celebrated Scanian fair, 
which was held in the autumn. About the same time, Lund 
is mentioned as a place of considerable trade, surrounded 
with a wooden barrier, where gold or other property gained 
by piracy was stored up for security, although itself a mark 
for the attacks of the sea-robbers, who swarmed everywhere 
'^ in these streets." 

Before the cession of this province, in 1658, to Sweden^ 
the town was the Metropolitan See of Denmark. 

It has a quaint, picturesque aspect. The prominent object 
is the old cathedral, an imposing and irregular structure, 
founded in the eleventh or twelfth century. There are visi- 
ble in it traces both of the Byzantine and the Gothic school — 
perhaps even of three ages of architecture. Professor Bru- 
nius is at this time repairing and enlarging the building, with 
great skill, apparently. Beneath it, in a kind of crypt — 
used once as the scene of mysterious funeral rites, and for 
the last ceremonial of Catholicism — our friends showed us 
two columns, with a human figure carved on each, one of a 
man, and the other of a woman, with a child. The tradi- 
tion is this : The holy Saint Lawrence was walking through 
the wilderness, and praying that he might be able to build 
a grand church to his God, when a giant met him and pro- 
mised to grant his prayer, on condition of the holy man's 
bestowing on him his two eyes, and the sun and moon. The 
saint appears to have had no reluctance in promising, and 
the giant went to work. At length, when he had nearly 
completed his labors, the holy father bethought him that 



Legend. 435 

lie had these rather difficult wages to pay. He became 
alarmed, and knew not what to do. He wandered out alone 
in the forest ; and there, while in pious meditation, he heard 
a giantess quieting her child, saying — 

"Hush! baby, hush! 
♦ Finn, thy father, comes home to-morrow, 

Then with the sun and moon shalt thou play. 
And with the old saint's eyes I" 

By this, he learned the giant's name, and of course at 
once had power over him. 

The giant and his wife found that they were betrayed, 
and went to the crypt and seized each a pillar, to destroy 
the church. St. Lawrence saw them, and, in the very act, 
made the sign of the cross over them, saying, " Remain 
there in stone till the Day of Doom !" And there they 
are still shown, each embracing a pillar. 

The legend is an imitation of one of the old Eddaic 
stories. A Swedenborgian friend who visited them with 
me, said that they were mythical representations — of which 
the old church is full. The beastly and earthly passions 
attempting to shake the temple of faith and purity, changed 
and rendered lifeless by the power of the cross, the symbol 
of Divine Love. 

^i. ^^ ^« ^^ *^ 

Lund is especially famous for its university, founded in 
1668. Puffendorf was professor here, and Linnaeus a pupil. 
It ranks perhaps second to Ilpsala. The property belong- 
ing to it is large, being in great part the old estates and 
rents belonging to the Catholic Chapter of Lund, transferred 



436 The JSTorse-Folk. 

to it by the King. With this — consisting of four panshes, 
thirty prebends, and nine hundred pieces of land — it meets 
nearly all its own expenses. The professors are paid in 
natural products. Salaries, jpaid in grain, vary from the 
value of one hundred and twenty dollars to eight hundred 
dollars. The Privat-docent, or tutor, is paid by his pupils. 
The theological professors have a parish. Even the lay- 
professors have sometimes parishes given them, though they 
must of course take orders. It is not uncommon for a lay- 
professor* to be appointed bishop, as a reward for distin- 
guished talents or character. 

One of my best friends in Sweden, recently appointed 
bishop, was formerly in a political office, and, if I mistake 
not, a lawyer. Tegner, Professor of Greek Literature, in 
Lund, and Agard, of Botany, were both made bishops. 

The examination for the entry of students is said to be 
strict. The course for theology is ordinarily two years, and 
for other branches, three. The theological student has an 
additional examination to pass before the consistory, when 
leaving the university, before he can enter on his profession. 



THE "nations." 

This division of the students occurs here, as in Upsala. 
It is obligatory, and no young man can be matriculated in 
the university, without being a member of the ''Nation" 

* An instance is related of an officer coming in boots and spurs to 
the Swedisli court, to thank his Majesty for being appointed a bishop! 



The Students. 437 

from his own province. Each Nation has its rooms, library, 
reading-room, means of amusement and of study. Here is 
a very large, handsome building, with concert-hall, restau- 
rant, and a number of reading-rooms, which belong to the 
Nations, combined. 

There are four degrees in these voluntary bodies — seniores, 
jimiores, recentiores, and novitii. To pass from one to the 
other, an examination is necessary before the class above. 
The Nation chooses among the professors its own In- 
spector, or general superintendent, who signs its acts and 
approves its decisions, and represents it with the academic 
consistory ; it also chooses from its own seniores, its curator, 
who is a kind of secretary and treasurer. Every student 
intending to pass his examination before the faculty, must 
first bring a certificate from his Nation of his conduct and 
studies. This body has a certain jurisdiction over its mem- 
bers, and even the power of expulsion, which is considered 
worse than expulsion from the university.* 

It is said that many of the students live on one hundred 
and twenty dollars a year, without difficulty. 

* ^# K^ ^^ ^^ ^^ 

*^ *J« ^* ^% ^f^ 

I made the acquaintance of some very intellectual and 
accomplished men, among the professors here. We had an 

evening at Prof B 's, the most distinguished theological 

scholar of the university, and eminent, also, as a preacher. 
There is something wonderfully intellectual and ideal in 
the expression of his face, and he impresses one as a 

* Marmier — Les Universites Suedoises. (Les Lettres sur le Nord.) 



V 



438 The Noese-Folk. 

profound and scholastic mind. Yet I was disappointed, 
that a man of such world-wide culture should cling so 
closely to the political idea of the Church. I have met no 
theologian in Sweden so despotic and ecclesiastical in his 
theory. He listened to my rather frank expositions of the 
American system, with much respect, though apparently 
not so much caring to discuss them, as to get exactly our 
stand-point. In the course of the conversation, my friend 
spoke of the evils which all Sweden feels, in the mode of 
paying the pastor's salary — that is, the collecting it by 
fixed rates and little taxes among the parishioners, thereby 
encouraging a covetous and pecuniary relation alone be- 
tween pastor and people. He suggested that it would be 
better for the Government, or for the parish-meeting, to de- 
termine the amount and raise it. 

Prof. at once objected — " Nothing must be done 

which would weaken the legal claim of the Church to those 
rates and salaries. It was the Church's property." 

I had Understood he was engaged in reforming the liti^rgy 
of the Swedish Church, and it did not occur to me that, in 
this age, it could be but in one direction. I asked about 
the formula for the " Forgiving of Sins," and we compared 
it with that of the Norwegian liturgy. In the latter, the 
pastor, by virtue of his authority, declares the sins forgiven. 
In the Swedish, the absolution is more distinctly conditioned 
on the inner repentance, though still "declared" by the 
clergyman. It appears that a quibbling controversy has 
arisen in regard to this Absolution, and that this learned 
Protestant scholar, instead of seeking to wipe the whole 



A Discussion. 439 

declaration from the Swedish Prayer-book, as unworthy of a 
rational age, is striving to make it stronger — to establish 
that there is some mysterious, God-given, official power in 
the man of cassock and white bands, to heal the fearful dis- 
eases of the human soul, by p-odaiming them healed ! I 
may be doing him injustice, but such his position seemed to 
me ; and I at once felt myself so far out even of the atmos- 
phere of such ideas, that I listeu'ed to him in confused 
silence. 

Our conversation on aesthetic and liturgical forms was 
more satisfactory. I told him that I felt on the sesthetical 
side of religious expression, men were almost necessarily 
one-sided. Historical associations, circumstances, climate, 
temperament, and other causes, make some classes of minds 
sensitive to a certain kind of religious and aesthetic impres- 
sions, while to another kind they are utterly obtuse or 
opposed. 

Tills had struck me especially, comparing America and 
Sweden. Here, I found a ceremonial — a use of garments, 
colors, and forms, and tones, which, by the side of our bare 
and simple New England mode, seemed Popish and Roman- 
istic — even as the Bavarian ceremonial probably seemed to 
Mm, going from Sweden. Yet, I could not doubt the essen- 
tial spirit of worship in each and all. 

He allowed the truth of this ; but said, this was not true 
of the historic idea of a Church. Each country and people 
must have that for a full religious life ; they must be con- 
nected to the past by direct spiritual bonds. The Church 
was mvsteriously transmitted from age to age through its 



440 The I^okse-Folk. 

ordinances and divinely-blessed ministers, even as a State is. 
We had not this in America, and must, if we had not felt 
already, yet feel the ill effects of the want of it. 

The existence of sects with us struck him in the same 
mournful light as I have before described among the scho- 
lars and clergymen. 

We spoke of Bunsen, whom I felt to be one of the most 
enlightened and comprehensive theologians of the day. He 
did not like him, and spoke of the excessive individualism of 
his "Signs of the Times ^^ with severity. 

Our conversation, lasting for a considerable time, was 
very interesting, and I left him with a high respect for his 
courtesy of manner and his culture, though differing utterly 
from his theories. 

I have alluded to my Swedenborgian friend, Dr. K. — -a 
most genial, agreeable person — a believer also in " Spirit- 
ualism " (so-called). It is a remarkable thing, that one meets 
with so few Swedenborgians in Sweden. The superstitious, 
dreamy temperament of the Swedes would seem to be just 
the atmosphere for such visions to flourish in ; still the 
Revelation has now far more followers in England and 
America, than in its own country. 

I have repeatedly read the prophetic and figurative parts of 
Swedenborg's writings. The profound convictions of his fol- 
lowers almost force one to look again, at what can inspire such 
an undoubted faith. But never have I been able to finish the 
perusal of his mystical visions ; there is something incredibly 
dreary in them. That he was a great man, a man of vast 



SWEDENBOKG. 44:1 

erudition — though his Latin is sometimes wretched — and of 
much science, there can be no doubt. That he believed in 
the reality of his own visions, is probably equally true. 

His theology, or rather Christology, as usually given by 
his followers, seems to me entirely consistent with the 
ApostoHc standards, and to have within it, a life-giving 
truth, which is not, however, Swedenborg's more than it is 
Augustin's or Paul's — the manifestation of God in Christ to 
men. His followers, I have generally found very simple, 
earnest, religious people. 

We had a very pleasant dinner with Dr. K. and some 
other agreeable friends, at Baron Gyllenkrok's. The Baron 
is an enthusiastic naturalist, and a well-known friend of the 
poor. His '' Ragged School," near Lund, was probably the 
first of the kind in Sweden. 

He believes, with many now in different lands, that it is 
bad and wasteful policy to be expending such sums on the 
punishment and imprisonment of children, when they could 
as easily, and at half the expense, be reformed. He has, 
accordingly, collected the subscriptions for a building and a 
farm, where the boys of the prisons, the outcast, homeless 
lads of the cities, all those growing up under Christianity in 
Sweden, yet outside of religion and civilization, should find 
occupation, training, and a home. The enterprise has 
worked well. The Swedish people is not one that recog- 
nizes its obligation towards that class of its society, as much 
as some other nations; still Baron Gyllenkrok has succeeded 
in collecting considerable sums for his institution. We 



442 The Norse-Folk. 

found the building a large, comfortable structure, with a 
fine garden, and fields .about it. Some of the boys were 
working in the garden as we drove up, and they ran to the 
baron's carriage, presenting their cheeks for him to stroke, 
and kissing his hand. The first room which we entered was 
a work -shop for basket-weaving. That and the garden and 
farm-labor are the principal industrial occupations. We 
visited, besides, the school-room and dormitories, and hospi- 
tal-chamoer — all very neat and comfortable. It is strange, 
with all the Swedish manufacture of iron, that they have 
not arrived at the great improvement of iron bedsteads for 
their public institutions. 

One especial means of reformation employed in this 
school, is music, and with the best effects. While we were 
there, the boys were called together to sing and play for us. 
One led, on a small organ, and the others sang ; afterwards 
there was an accompaniment of violin and flute, with very 
good singing in parts. 

Some of the songs were very touching, and our friends 
could not, several times, refrain their tears. One gentleman 
in our party, as he afterwards told the Baron, had once 
been as destitute as any of these little outcasts ; he had 
known what it was to be on the verge of starvation, and 
had seen his father, a laboring man, return home at night, 
almost fainting, and shedding tears, because he had nothing 
with which to feed his starving children. Of course, such 
an education had given him an undying sympathy for the 
poor and degraded, and fitted him for the post he so well 
fills, of reformer and friend of the poor. 



Ragged School. 443 

One pale boj, of not a bad expression of countenance, 
who sang well, the warm-hearted Baron frequently caressed, 
saying, " Poor boy ! Six weeks on bread and water, and 
only ten years old !" This had been his sentence, it appears, 
for some crime of poverty, until the Baron had begged his 
release, and was now trying the effect of good fare and 
kindness. 

After a certain time spent here, the lads are scattered 
abroad through families in the country ; and thus far, the 
results have been here, as almost everywhere in similar 
enterprises, exceedingly fortunate. 

The Truth is dawning on this age, that vice and crime 
can be checked by other means than punishment ; that 
prison-bars and penal restraints for the young, are a dis- 
grace on our Christianity, and show we have lazily neglected 
the prevention, and must now employ cruelty. 

Sweden would never be disgraced by such a number of 
prisoners in her large cities, if she had more such reforma- 
tory schools. 

There is one especial danger, however, in all such institu- 
tions. The managers are tempted to keep the reformed and 
improved children together, for the sake of showing to the 
doubtful and worldly what can be done with this miserable 
class. They come to have their model wicked-reformed 
children, who listen year after year to the tale of their for- 
mer wickedness and their present piety, until they arrive at 
a condition, if possible, worse than their first sensualism and 
bold sinfulness — a conscious, canting, hypocritical state. Be- 
sides, this class of children are never improved by being kept 



4:4,4: The Nokse-Folk. 

« 

in contact. They want most, the individual influences of a 
home, not of an asylum. The object should be everywhere 
to scatter them about through a country, placing them in 
kind, religious families. 

The Baron's school had performed one thing in which the 
Swedish charitable institutions are usually shamefully defi- 
cient — the publishing of a succinct Report of expenses, 
receipts, and the various statistics of a reformatory institu- 
tion. 

At parting, the old Baron gave me a medallion of his 
head. He seemed really affected on bidding us good-bye, 
feeling it was hardly probable we should ever meet again. 

When the kind old man dies at last — and may the day 
be far distant ! — there will be many to mourn him in Swe- 
den, but the sincerest tears, dropped on his grave, will be 
from the children of the friendless and the poor. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SWEDISH CHUKCH. 

The Swedisli church is even more than united to the 
State. The two are, as it were, parts of one whole, so 
that, in communal matters, it is difficult to distinguish the 
one from the other. 

All public actions are celebrated with churchly ceremo- 
nies : — the crowning of the king, the opening of Parliament, 
the sitting of the general court, the giving of university 
degrees, and the consecration of schools. The whole school 
system is under the care and guidance of the Church. The 
rehgious instruction in all schools is always Lutheran, and 
every academic term is opened with a theological examination. 
All office-holders must belong to the Lutheran church ; all 
garrisons, hospitals, and asylums, — all forces of the nation, 
by land or by sea, must have Lutheran chaplains, and shall 
hold daily religious exercises. 

In Sweden, it is the parish, not the commune, which has 
the local government. The clergyman is, in fact, the gov- 
ernor of his little district, and a council (Sockenstamma) 
composed of the free-holders, members of the church, manage 
with him all the worldly affairs. Baptism and confirmation 

445 



44(3 The Norse-Folk. 

are made indispensable to holding office, or even to civil 
rights ; and the punishments of the church have the weight 
of legal penalties. The government and the church inter- 
twine and become one in a manner so minute as to be inde- 
scribable, except in the details which can only be given in a 
traveller's journal. 

The Swedish church cannot be called an Episcopal 
church, nor altogether a Presbyterian or Congregational. 
The best authorities* describe it as originally Episcopal in 
form, but now more nearly approaching the latter churches. 
Greater freedom exists within it than within the Norwegian. 
It holds, in the main, the congregational right of selecting 
its own clergymen, though the field of choice is limited by 
the consistory. It is estimated that two-thirds of all the 
pastors of Sweden are thus chosen ; the other third being 
appointed by patrons or by the king. 

The church does not culminate in synods, but is ratlier a 
union of free local communities, presided over each by its 
own parish council. This council is founded on a feature of 
government which existed before the time of Christianity ; 
the division of the country into petty provinces, each with 
its centre of religious worship. It ie a body having charge, 
through its committees, of the schools, the relief of the poor, 
the morals of the parish, the repairs of the church, the distri- 
bution of the church funds, and objects of a similar character. 

Its principal committee, — composed of the pastor, vicar, 
and from four to eight elders, occupies itself especially with 

* Prof. A. 0. Knos, and Schubert. 



CnuRCH Committees. 44:7 

the neglect of, or offences against, the church ordinances, 
such as absence from communion or severance of the mar- 
riage tie. This body originated in 1612 with the clergy 
themselves, and was caused by the difficulty of treating of 
moral offences of a delicate nature before the whole parish 
council. At one time, it had come to manage also the 
usual business affairs of the parish, but these have now been 
transferred to another committee, (Socken namnd), and it 
retains its more churchly character. 

Above the separate churches are the assistant of the 
bishop (prost), the consistories, and the bishop. The mem- 
bers of the consistories are the bishop, prost, and others, 
both lay and clerical, chosen iu part by the king, and in 
part by the churches. The bishop is chosen by the king 
from those candidates presented by the diocese. He is 
considered a representative of the parishes, and, in the form 
of ordaining the clergy, it is distinctly provided that his 
authority proceeds from the trust of the churches, and 
nowhere is any apostolical succession claimed for him or his 
order. Both in the nomination of the clergy from the peo- 
ple, their duties, which are communal, not national, and in 
their support — from their parishes — ^it is attempted to be 
shown that the clergy, though associated with, are not 
servants of, the State. 

The only bodies corresponding to the Presbyterian synods, 
are the synods of the dioceses, which act upon practical 
questions concerning the churches and the clergy. 

The real synod, and highest authority for the church — 
next to the king, who, though not the head bishop, exercises 



448 The JSToese-Folk. 

many Episcopal rights,— is the House of Clergy, in the 
Swedish Parliament. 

This is made up of the archbishop, who is ex officio presi- 
dent, and the bishops — twelve in number— together with 
the leading pastor of Stockholm, and forty-four deputies of 
the pastors or rectors, with a few deputies of the chaplains. 
Besides these, there are one or two members from each of 
the universities at Upsala and Lund, and two from the 
Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. The chaplains, being 
of the poorer class of the clergy, can only afford to send a 
few deputies, so that the whole number of members of the 
House is only about sixty-two. These sixty-two form one- 
fourth of the whole representation of the Swedish Parlia- 
ment, though having a constituency of only about 2,100. 
They can block, by their resistance, any measure of impor- 
tance, as changes in the Constitution require a majority of 
every house. 

Though the church has a strong congregational character, 
the House of Clergy is very much under the royal influence. 
One-third of the livings are either in the gift of the crown, 
or of patrons who are closely connected with the govern- 
ment. The archbishop is appointed by the king from candi- 
dates proposed. The bishops, as has already been mentioned, 
are selected by the same authority, under certain conditions, 
and the remainder of the clergy are naturally much influ- 
enced by the wishes of the government, holding as it does 
the highest patronage in its hands. The king, also, has the 
power of absolute veto on all bills which affect the change 
or the forming of ecclesiastical laws. 



House of Glp^rgt. 449 

The rectors alone are chosen as members by the congre- 
gation, from the three proposed by the consistory. 

With this powerful royal influence, it is not strange 
that the House of Clergy has been the great hindrance to 
progress in Sweden. Through the clergy, the crown can 
also control the House of Peasants, so that full half the 
Parliament can generally be rehed on as opposing any 
efforts at radical reform. It is a remarkable fact that in 
the Swedish Parliament, the liberal bodies are the Houses 
of Nobles and of Citizens. 

The legislation of this clerical assembly has been such as 
might be expected. There are laws and punishments in the 
Swedish code against blasphemy, against the mocking of 
God's word and the sacraments, the falling away from pure 
evangelical doctrine, the spreading of erroneous doctrines, 
the violating the Sabbath, the despising of the sermon and 
the holy communion. It is only a few years since, that the 
law was repealed which forbade the attending any other 
church than the Evangelical Lutheran, by a Swedish subject, 
on penalty of about five riks-dollars. 

So late as March, 1855, a law was passed aimed at the 
Baptists, which made it a misdemeanor, punishable with a 
fine of one hundred and fifty-five riks-dollars, for a layman 
to celebrate any of the sacraments, i. e., to baptize or admin- 
ister the Lord's Supper. 

In 1853, an artist was condemned to six months' banish- 
ment, because he had renounced the Lutheran faith. 

jSTo Jews are allowed either to vote or sit in Parliament ; 
and, before 1854, they were permitted to reside only in few 
towns of the whole kingdom. 



4:50 The Nokse-Folk. 

The attendance of clergymen on Parliament is a great 
evil to their parishes, and I am convinced is one among 
many causes which have so weakened the spiritual power of 
the Swedish church. It seems to me quite right that a 
clergyman should occasionally have a part in legislation and 
in political life ; but thus to create a formal clerical diet, is 
not only injurious to the people, but gives to one small body 
an altogether undue and dangerous weight in the common- 
wealth. It originated when the priest was the only enlight- 
ened man of the parish, and all public affairs needed his 
assistance. That time has passed by in Sweden, as else- 
where. 

This whole parliamentary system of apportioning a repre- 
sentation to the clergy, is one of the strong-holds which still 
support the almost incredible bigotry with which Sweden is 
now so painfully eminent. Where the Church is thus a 
power in the State, she gathers around her the worst vices 
of the world, rendered yet more dangerous by the cloak and 
ceremonial of Religion. Of course, there are beautiful 
exceptions to this among the Swedish pastors and bishops, 
instances of eminent piety and enlarged liberality ; I speak 
only in general of the tone and temper of the Church. 

The Swedish writers who discuss this subject, seem to me 
generally to commit one great mistake — they confuse the 
Church with Religion. Of course, religion should now and 
evermore be united with all legislation and politics. The 
ideal of a State is a society and government inspired with 
Christianity. But the organized form — the Association 
which, with its ceremonial, its wealth, its history and its 
men, is the means of imparting religious life to the world — 



i 



A Prediction. 451 

is quite another thing, and comes under the laws which 
afifect human conduct, and is liable to no small share of the 
usual human temptations and dangers. It is not Religion, 
nor even organized religion ; it is only an implement, and a 
very imperfect one at the best. 

Thus far, the experience of the world has shown that, 
wherever this spiritual organization is gifted with political 
power, and is placed in high official places, there will be 
formality, hypocrisy, bigotry, and spiritual lifelessness The 
spiritual hope for Sweden lies now, we believe, in its despised 
dissent — the poor and ignorant L'dseri (Methodism). 

We believe it is no rash effort at foretelling, which should 
say that this century will see the disruption and convulsion 
of the Swedish State Church. The Baptists and Method- 
ists are laboring in quiet, earnest way, on the great princi- 
ples of Christianity ; and the very nature of these truths is 
to shatter hierarchies, and to tear open formalism and 
hypocrisy. They have thus far suffered persecution, ban- 
ishment, and reproach ; but each day their cause grows 
stronger, and takes deeper hold of the hearts of the people. 
The upper classes, though hesitating to join the ignorant 
Lasare, are equally unsatisfied with the clergy and their 
teaching. The Swedish nature is one that cannot rest con- 
tent with mere skepticism or with rationalism unlighted by 
religion. It is inclined to religious faith and consolation. 
It is, by temperament, almost superstitious. It will be long 
in taking to itself new supporters of its faith, or in adopting 
new means for imparting religious life, but when it does, it 
will be with a thorough renouncing of the old. The pre^ 



452 The Nokse-Folk. 

sent clergy will become to the peasants as did the hierarchy 
of England to the Puritans of the Revolution. They will 
abhor and renounce them ; and when the change comes, one 
of the great things done will be the utter sweeping away of 
the House of Clergy and all political powers belonging 
thereunto. The Church will be left to rest where it should, 
on the personal relations of pastor and people, on the affec- 
tion of the one, and the abilities and self-sacrifice and piety 
of the other. 

May the day soon draw near of such spiritual liberty to 
Sweden ! 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE SWEDISH PARLIAMENT. 

The Riksdag or Parliament is made up of four Houses : 
1. That of Nobles ; 2. Of Clergy ; 3- Of Burgers or Citi- 
zens ; and 4. Of Bonders or Peasants. 

I. The House of Nobles consists of three ranks, counts, 
barons and gentlemen. The senior member alone of a 
noble family has a hereditary right to a seat. In 1850, 
there were more than 1,500 noble families in the kingdom, 
and 432 representatives of them in the Parliament. 

The senior member will frequently give his seat to a 
junior member either of his own or another family. A 
proxy is sometimes sold by a poor noble, indirectly, to 
government. An instance is related — though I am unable 
to say on what authority — of the crown prince's buying a 
seat during the late discussions on parliamentary reform, 
and giving it to a friend to vote against the liberal party. 
The nobles of Sweden are entirely dependent on the king 
for what is their great ambition — promotion in the army 
and navy. The President of this house is appointed by the 
king. 

II. The House of Clergy has been described in the pre- 

458 



4:54 The Nokse-Folk. 

vious chapter. It numbered, in 1850, 64 members, and re- 
presented 2,173 voters. As has been shown, it is greatly 
under the royal influence. „ 

III. The House of Citizens. This is chosen by all those 
who are members of guilds or handicrafts in the cities, or 
who belong to the magistracy. Many residents of the 
towns with large properties, have no vote for this body, or 
for their own local government, because they are not mem- 
bers of guilds. Yet, by a strange inconsistency, they can be 
elected to a city office. 

In 1850, this house had 56 members and represented 
13,496 voters. Five members were iron-manufacturers, and 
represented 216 voters. The admission of these last is a 
concession of modern years to the demands for reform. 

ly. The House of Bonders (or Peasants). The class here 
represented number seven-ninths of the whole people, or 
a,bout 2,250,000 persons. The voters, or freeholders, among 
these in 1850, were about 202,608. The representatives, 
111; or 1 to 1,825 voters, and 1 to 20,2T0 peasants. No 
scale to the population was ever proposed. The President 
and Secretary of this house are appointed by the King. 

A motion was made, in 1851, in the House of Peasants, 
that they should elect their own Secretary. It was carried, 
and finally passed all four houses, but was vetoed by the King. 

The pay of all the members who are elected, is settled by 
their constituents. In the rotten boroughs, a bargain is 
often made, and the cheapest are sent. 

Every member of Parliament must have been confirmed, 
either in the Reformed or Lutheran Churches. 



Inequalities. 455 

In 1845, the population of Sweden was 3,316,536, of 
which the four classes represented in Parliament numbered 
only 2,346,248 — leaving about a million of persons* entirely 
unrepresented, many of them men of property and intelli- 
gence, as, for instance, most of the members of the profes- 
sions of law and medicine, literary people, the officers of the 
army and navy, all persons engaged in public service, not 
belonging to any of the four classes, and all day-laborers, 
apprentices, and Jews. 

SCALE OF PROPERTY. 

Nobles (in 1850), 11,248 ; real estate (of which one- 
third is mortgaged to the Peasants and Burgers), $30,000,- 
000. Clergy, 15,000 ; real estate, $400,000. Burgers, 
10,000 ; real estate, $14,000,000. Peasants, 2,250,000 ; 
real estate, $68,000,000. 

Each house has an equal vote — so that two classes, the 
Burgers and Clergy, numbering 85,000, and paying a tax of 
$145,000, have half the voice of the Parliament, while the 
Peasants, with only one vote, pay a tax of $2,500,000 ; and 
of the unrepresented million, 70,000 persons of fortune and 
education pay a tax of $800,000, or nearly six times as 
much as the two classes mentioned above I 

The first business of each house is the appointment of 
committees. These are appointed by electors, chosen by 
ballot for the purpose. The House of Peasants alone has 
the power of choosing the committees directly. The first is 

* Hon. F. Schroeder — Dispatches to the Home Department. 



456 The Norse- Folk. 

the Committee on the Constitution. This, composed of six 
members from each house, has charge of all matters of con- 
stitutional law. It can indict the royal ministers before the 
Superior Court, and report on the proceedings of the Cabi- 
net. The second, the Committee on Finance; the third, on 
Taxes ; the fourth, on Banks; fifth, on Statute-Law ; sixth, 
on general Grievances and Order. 

After these appointments, thirty days are set apart for 
the reception of motions and petitions, and what is called 
the Relation or Report. 

All reform-bills or fundamental changes in the constitu- 
tion, must pass all four houses, and be carried over to 
another session, before they can be finally passed. 

One of the most extraordinary features in this remarkable 
Constitution, is the deciding of questions, at the end of the 
session, by referring them to what are called ''Reinforced 
Committees." These are made up of twenty or thirty mem- 
bers from each house, chosen by vote. They decide all 
quiestions by ballot, and, in order to secure a decision, the 
following singular means are employed. After depositing 
the ballots, one is taken out at hazard, to be reserved as a 
casting vote. If, without the reserved ballot, a majority of 
one should be the result, the ballot is destroyed unexamined, 
and a decision is thus often obtained, as fortune may direct. 
"Many vexed questions," says Mr. Schroeder, ''after long 
debates, have thus been settled by a game of chance. 
Many changes of tariff thus, and, I regret to say, the game 
has not always been a lucky one for American interests." 

The session of Parliament cannot , last beyond three 



Parliamentary Business. 457 

months, though it may be prolonged, by informing the 
King, for one month longer, if the business be not com- 
pleted. There have been instances of the Parliaments sit- 
ting nearly three years. 

'No member can be prosecuted or arraigned for words 
spoken in the Parliament, except with the consent of five- 
sixths of his house. The Parliament usually meets once in 
five years. 

THE ROYAL POWERS. 

As has been already mentioned, the King has power of 
absolute veto in cases of constitutional changes. 

With reference to the increase or laying of duties or taxes, 
he has no power, even in the recesses of the Parliament. He 
has liberty only to reduce them. 

The executive government of the kingdom is in the hands 
of the King and his Council of State, composed of ten mem- 
bers. The King himself chooses these — the only conditions 
being that they should be born Swedes, of pure character, 
and professing the Lutheran faith. 

The King has the power of making treaties and declaring 
war, after consulting with an extraordinary Council of State. 
He is also the commander-in-chief of the forces by land and 
sea. Strict provisions are made in the constitution against 
his assailing the rights or interfering with the liberty of 
conscience of any individual Swede. 

The King has the power of pardon, though, by a singular 
provision, it is left to the guilty person to accept it or not, 
as he may prefer (Art. 25). 

20 



458 The Nobse-Folk. 

The High Chancellor of Justice, the ambassadors and 
principal officials of the kingdom, the bishops, the curates 
of the royal parishes, and the burgomasters, are all ap- 
pointed by the crown. 

No requisition of men or money can be made for purposes 
of war, without the full consent of the Parliament. 



GENERAL LAWS. 

The liberty of the Press is one of the fundamental provi- 
sions of the Swedish Constitution, and has been further 
guarded by subsequent acts.*f 

* A trial by jury is provided in Sweden for any one accused of 
abusing the liberty of the press. Thirteen persons are presented for 
jurymen, of whom the judge names five, the prosecuting officer four, 
and the accused four. The latter is allowed to challenge two — thus 
reducing the thirteen to eleven, and leaving only seven nominated 
by the court and public prosecutor. 

•)• Free Press in Sioeden. — Galignani's Messenger, of Paris, of 25th 
December, 1856, contains the following news summary : 

"The liberty of the press has just achieved a triumph in Sweden. 
The four Chambers of the Diet have unanimously rejected a bill of 
last session, which erases from the constitution and places in the 
rank of ordinary laws that which guarantees the liberty of the press. 
In the Chamber of Nobles, one of the ministers (M. de Gripenstedt) 
made a sort of apology for presenting the bill, saying, ' Ministers are 
men, and as such are liable to commit errors.' The rejection took 
place almost without discussion, in the Chamber of the Clergy and of 
the Burgers. In the Chamber of Peasants, fifty members spoke 
against the measure. The last speaker, in concluding, said : ' The 



Election of King. 469 

In an elective kingdom, like this of Sweden, the right of 
election of the king, in case of the extinction of the rojal 
line, is naturally left with the Parliament. 

Careful provision is made for the impeachment of the 
Council of State, if it is discovered that they have either 
counselled the King to unconstitutional measures, or have 
themselves transgressed the laws of the kingdom, or neg- 
lected, when informed of them, the infractions of such laws. 

REGENCY. 

No two hostile countries, placed in unexpected union, 
could be more jealous and cautious in all their provisions 
towards each other, than are Sweden and Norway. 

In case of the absence of the King, it is provided that 
there shall be a Regency at Stockholm, composed of ten 
Swedes and ten Norwegians. The Swedish members are, 
ex officio, the members of the King's Cabinet — that is, the 
Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs, and eight ordinary 
Councillors of State. The Norwegian are, the Norwegian 
Minister of State, two Councillors of State, always resident 
in Stockholm, and seven Councillors, summoned from Nor- 
way for the occasion. The Swedish Minister of Justice and 
the Norwegian Minister of State draw lots for the First 
Presidency, and then each presides in rotation for eight 

liberty of the press is the tongue of the nation, and the wish now is 
to cut it out. "Will you allow that to be done?' 'No ! no! a thou- 
sand times no ! God preserve us from it ! ' was the cry of all the 
others." 



460 The ISTokse-Folk. 

days. The President votes with the other nineteen, and, in 
a tie, has a second casting vote — thus giving a decision to 
each kingdom every alternate week. In Norwegian mat- 
ters, the Norwegian language is used ; in Swedish matters, 
the Swedish language. Subjects affecting the interests of 
both kingdoms, shall be propounded by the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, a Swede, and then drawn up by the Prime 
Ministers of each kingdom in their own language. No mem- 
ber of the royal family can be admitted to this council — not 
even the Crown Prince, who has a seat in the Cabinet.* 

* "Those who take an interest in the affairs of the north of Europe 
have not, perhaps, passed unnoticed the fact published in the Swedish 
oflficial journal of the appointment of a mixed commission of six 
Swedes and six Norwegians, to meet at Christiania, under the presi- 
dency of the Viceroy, for the better determination of the act of 
union between the two countries. It is worthy of remark that, 
though the sister kingdoms have been upwards of forty years under 
the same ruler, their mutual obligations, in the event of war, are 
still undefined. It is in order to supply this important omission, and 
to obviate any discussion that might arise in the hour of action, and 
prevent any fatal indecision at a time of common peril, that this 
commission has been named. It will be their duty to prepare the 
draught of a law fixing the military contingent to be furnished by 
each country in the event of their independence being threatened. 
They will also have to determine the forces to be maintained in time 
of peace, the reserves to be raised in time of war, the number of 
ships to be manned ; and, after providing for the defence of the two 
kingdoms, they will be called upon to decide in what proportion the 
expenses of the war are to be borne by each. Of course, due regard 
will be taken to make a fair allotment of those obligations according 
to the respective populations. At all events, the labors of the com- 



The Constitution. 461 

The absurdities and awkwardnesses of the Swedish Con- 
stitution are so evident on the face of it, that they hardly 
seem to need detailing. The great wonder is, that an instru- 
ment so unpractical and cumbersome and unjust in its provi- 
sions, should have existed thus long in a country as intelligent 
and enlightened as Sweden. There is the less need here of 
enlarging on them, as my whole journey has been a com- 
mentary on their injurious effects. 

Here is a constitution which creates four independent 
deliberative and legislative bodies, with a separate array of 
officers and order of business. Many important measures, 
to become laws, must pass three out of the four, and some 
must pass the whole four. How easy for one chamber to 
delay before taking up a bill, or to cumber it with amend- 
ments ; how natural that the esprit du corps of each house 
should affect it in considering public measures, and hold it 
from meeting the wishes of the people ; how many separate 
interests to conciliate, how many classes to manage, how 
many ceremonies and necessary business-arrangements, how 
much jealousy and rivalry and class-feeling, before even a 
simple measure of public interest could become a law ! We 
see something of the difficulty in America, even with two 
houses : what would it be with four ? 

Then, in addition, one of these houses represents an inter- 
est which should not be represented on the political field — the 
clergy — which, if it be represented, will probably become the 

mission must lead to a closer union of the two countries, and to a 
considerable increase of the common force." — English paper, Janu- 
ary, IBS'?. 



462 The JSTorse-Folk. 

most impracticable, narrow, and illiberal interest of them 
all. 

Beside this, the Constitution is unjust in only granting 
one-fourth representation to what makes up at least seven- 
ninths of the whole population — the class of farmers : a 
class which, in wealth and in its payments for the support 
of government, is by far the most important interest. 

But, worst of all, this Constitution, through its arbitrary 
conditions, shuts out nearly a million of persons, many of 
whom would be the best qualified of any classes for the con- 
trol of public affairs. Why this objection at least has not 
long ago been removed, is utterly incomprehensible. 

The King, also, in this division of houses, is given an 
altogether undue weight, through his influence and power 
over two at least of the chambers. 

What wonder that a country under such a government, 
should be conspicuous in Europe, as almost the last to 
adopt modern improvements* — railroads, stage-coaches, 
telegraphs and popular schools ! What wonder that the 
bigotry and narrowness of its legislation should be the 
object of scoffing, even in the Roman Catholic countries ! 
In what Protestant country but in Sweden, at this day, could 
a man be punished or fined for his religious opinions ?f 

* There is not yet constructed a single railroad of any considerable 
length in Sweden, 

f The following information has reached this country since the 
above was written. The bill for establishing greater reUgious liberty, 
which the king, on opening the Diet, announced, has been published 
in the official gazette in Stockholm, on Nov. 27, 1866, It sadly dis- 



B I G O T E Y . 463 

Where else could a law be still upheld, forbidding a commer- 
cial house from having a branch-house, or preventing a for- 
eigner from transacting business except through an attorney ? 
All this is the more astonishing to a traveller, when he 

appoints the friends of religious liberty. It leaves the provision of 
the Constitution, according to which only Lutherans are eligible for 
a public ofiice, unchanged. It proposes a heavy fine for every one 
who explains publicly heretical doctrines in any other place except a 
church which does not belong to the State Church, and likewise for 
every one who persuades others to apostatize from the true Lutheran 
Church. A legal suit for contravention to this law can, however, 
only be commenced on order given by a royal chancellor of justice. 
The children of parents belonging to the Swedish church are consi- 
dered as members of this church, and must be raised in her doctrines, 
even if the parents, after the birth of the children, should embrace 
another ci"eed. The royal decree of 1726, which forbids all particu- 
lar religious meetings, besides the public divine worship in the 
parish church, is repealed, but it is again provided, that every reli- 
gious meeting, even the prayer-meetings of a family, if not pre- 
sided over by the local clergy, must be open for the inspection of 
public officers, who have the right to dissolve them. The only con- 
cession made is the abolition of the punishment of exile, and the 
permission to secede from the State-Church. But even this trifle 
meets with a strong opposition. The whole conservative party 
declares itself against it. It has become known that, on account 
of this law, three ministers, who are considered as leaders of 
the conservative party, have tendered to the king their resigna- 
tion. The conservative papers, in particular the Monthly Review of 
Mr. Crusenstalpe, alarm the country with the cry that the Swedish 
Church is in danger. The liberal party, on the other hand, makes 
great efforts to secure the passage of the bill, and circulates every- 
where petitions, declaring that if the law is not adopted, the signers 



464 The Nokse-Folk. 

reflects ou the public opinion upon this matter, which every- 
where encounters him. Excepting a few among the clergy- 
men, I hardly met with a man, peasant, citizen or noble, who 
seemed contented with the Constitution. Many projects of 
reform — as hinted at in different parts of my journey — have 
been put forward, but thus far with little effect. It is the 
opinion of enlightened Swedes, that nothing but the fear of 
revolution will force the government and the Parliament to 
measures of thorough reform. 

With all these objections to the Swedish Constitution, 
there is one advantage from it in the history of the past, 
which is to be fairly and fully allowed. It gave an early 
and, for the times, fair representation to the class of 
peasants. Never having suffered under the oppressions of 
feudalism, this class have from the beginning taken such a 
position, as no other peasantry in Europe have attained. 
They have held it through the whole history of Sweden, and 
now, the masses of Sweden are far above the similar classes 
in continental Europe, in habits of government, and in the 
understanding of and love for their rights and liberties. 
With the improvement of schools, the introduction of rail- 
ways and modern inventions, and a new Parliamentary sys- 
tem, this class will be prepared for what in numbers and 
wealth they could claim — the general government of Sweden. 

will leave the state church in order to make the execution of the 
law impossible. They are of opinion that no ministry will dare to 
send thousands of Swedes into exile for having seceded from the 
church. — Independent. 



CHAPTER XLT. 



THE RACES IN SWEDEN. 



If one examines the museums of antiquity and the cranio- 
logical collections in Sweden, he will find traces of what 
may be called the earliest substratum of the population ; 
a race, which, in an unknown age of the past, was forced 
from the great plateau of Central Asia down among the 
forests and rivers of Europe. A people which perhaps 
first penetrated the primeval wilderness of Germany, and 
spread its tribes to France and Switzerland, long before 
the existence in Europe of the Celts, the Germans or the 
Goths, whom Latin historians describe. 

By some mode, either reaching it in boats, or crossing 
to it on the ice, this great tribe gained a lodgment in 
the uninhabited plain of Southern Sweden, and among the 
savage forests of Scandinavia. 

Their settlements or encampments reached as far north 
as Halland and West Gothland. They were solely a hunt- 
ing and fishing people, and never engaged in agriculture. 
Their civilization, to judge from their implements, was 
scarcely beyond that of the South Sea Islanders. No 
metals were known to them ; and bone and stone, the latter 

20* 465 



4:66 The Norse-Folk. 

often not even polislied or hewn, were their chief materials. 
The making of pottery was understood among them, and 
they made use of vases and lamps of clay, xheir ornaments 
were often the teeth of dogs or of wild animals. Flint 
arrow-heads, precisely like those discovered in our Ameri- 
can mounds, were everywhere in use among them. This 
savage race= — the Indians of Europe — have left no trace 
in nearly all the lands which they invaded and inhabited, 
except their graves. No myths, or names, or superstitions, 
or early customs have come down from them. They buried 
their dead in mounds of loose stones ; they hunted and 
fished, and finally in continental Europe became extinct, 
while in Scandinavia they were pressed back to the bleak 
polar regions — this is all that is known of their life. They 
are distinguished as having round or short skulls {hr achy- 
cephalic), receding frontal bones, the nose with its roots 
deep sunk in the sockets, and projecting under-jaw. They 
belonged to the great Tschudic family, and were kindred 
to the Finns, the Hungarians, and the Turks. Their 
modern descendants in Scandinavia are divided into the 
two branches of which mention has already been made — 
the Quanes and Finns. 

The next invading tribe* which swept over Northern 
Europe, was of a far higher culture than the Tschudes. 
They came too from Asia, but of different stock. They 
brought with tliem a few of the arts of agriculture, the 
knowledge of bronze as a metal of use, a fine taste and 

* There is some slight evidence of PhcBnician settlement on the 
Swedish islands, not however worthy of much consideration here. 



The Kelts. 467 

conception of beauty, superior to that of the Germanic 
tribes who followed them — our own ancestors — and a more 
imaginative mythology. They spread over much of Eu- 
rope,* even to Ireland and Scotland, reaching England, 
it is supposed, about 600 b. c.f The names which they 
gave to the mountains on the continent still exist. In 
Scandinavia they have left a few words in the ancient 
Norse, a few myths among the superstitions of the people, 
and innumerable relics in their tombs. They are the Celts, 
or more properly, following the Greek orthography from 
which they get their name, the Kelts. They do not ap- 
pear to have penetrated farther North in Sweden than 
Bohuslan.J Unlike the preceding tribe, they burned their 
dead, though often using the old tombs of the Tschudic 
Finns. Their bronze is the very best admixture, and worked 
into all the implements of chase and war and common 
agriculture, beside manifold forms of grace and beauty for 
ornaments. 

The museums of Sweden and Denmark have a vast 
quantity of the relics of this race, manifesting often a high 
degree of taste and refinement. The Kelts are distinguished 
by craniologists as having long skulls, and therefore nearer 
the Teutonic tribes than are the Tschudic Finns. Their 
language is only one branch of the great family in which 
the Germanic languages are included. 

By what sudden and overwhelming attack from a ruder 
tribe this race was overborne in Sweden, or precisely in 

* Bunsen's Philosophy of History. f Dr. Max Miiller. 

X Weinhold — Alt Nordisches Leben. 



468 *The ISToiiSE-FoLE:. 

what year, is uncertain. Chronologists give 400 b. c, as 
the date of the great invasion of the Teutonic tribes ; and 
the Keltic remains show often token of a violent and 
unexpected destruction. By a singular evidence, confirming 
the testimony from the Scandinavian burial mounds, we 
are certain that our ancestors came forth from the great 
plateau of Asia while yet possessing some knowledge of 
agriculture. It is now well known that many of the words 
in our family of languages — ^the Indo-European — describing 
crops and processes of tilling the ground, come directly 
from the ancient Sanscrit. The Teutons were acquainted 
also v/ith the use of iron, though still employing the bronze 
aad the stone implements of the races who occupied the 
land before them. We have yet a word in English, which 
is a relic from our barbarous Norse fathers, as direct as the 
stone weapons in- the Scandinavian museums — hammer, the 
old Norse word for the stone which they broke, and after- 
wards for the 5^o?ie-implement which they used to break 
it, before the iron was employed for the purpose. 

The Teutonic tribes who settled Scandinavia may be 
classed, accepting Dr. Weinhold's division, into the Dano- 
Gothic and the Norwegio- Gothic. The former made their 
habitations in the Danish Islands and the neighborhood ; 
the latter crossed to Sweden and Norway. The Nor- 
wegian emigration might have crossed direct to the southern 
coast ; or, after passing over Sweden, have penetrated the 
North of Norway from the coast of the Arctic Sea, escap- 
ing thus the formidable barrier of the mountains which 
separate the two countries. The Swedish portion made 



The Goths. 469 

two especial settlements, one near Gottenburg on the 
Gotha, who were called the West Goths; the other on the 
Motala, near Norrkoping, called JEast Goths. Still an- 
other Teutonic tribe, probably at a later period,* settled 
the central and northern provinces of Sweden, making 
their centres of worship and trade, Sigtuna and Upsala. 
These are the Suiones, or Swedes, who have given their 
name to the country, and whose kingdom was called 
Suithiod. 

From both these great branches of the Teutonic family — 
the Danish and the Norwegian Northmen — our own race, 
the Anglo-Norman, is descended. Even at the present 
time, the natives of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are 
able to understand each other's languages, though they 
cannot speak any but their own. In these early times, 
however, the language was the same, and even later, when 
the solitary little Republic of Iceland, protected from wars 
and favored by a climate which led to an in-door, intellec- 
tual life, had become the centre of an original and vigorous 
oral and written literature, it was the boast of her skalds, 
that the Norse tongue was the only language for warriors 
and poets from the North Cape over Sweden, Denmark, 
Normandy, and the English Islands to the western coast 
of Ireland. 

The colony, from its superior cultivation, may be said 

to have given the language to the mother-country. At this 

day, the two languages, Danish and Swedish, are only 

idioms derived from the original Norse, while alone in 

* Geijer. 



470 The Noese-Folk. 

Iceland are its pure remains to be found. The Icelander 
of this day can read the Eddas, but to the Danes, Swedes, 
and Norwegians they are almost as much a closed book 
as to an Englishman. The modern Norse, and its off- 
shoots, are far below the ancient Icelandic* in richness 
and completeness. 

This is one of the instances brought forward by philo- 
sophical writers, f to show how colonization will sometimes 
settle a language and preserve it in its richness, while the 
original language in the mother country may degenerate. 

Of the appearance of our earliest ancestors, we have 
abundant evidence. The most imposing in size were pro- 
bably the Norwegian, and as a natural consequence, these 
had a profound contempt for all the other Scandinavians. 
Some Arabian writers, who saw the Northmen later, as 
Yserangians at the Court of Constantinople, describe their 
"forms to be like palm-trees." The king was frequently 
chosen for his weight of body. It is related of Hialmter 
and olver, two heroes, that one always needed two seats 
and the other " three, on the drinking bench. Sorli, son 
of the Upland King, could break down a strong horse in 
half a day, by his weight alone. The skeletons found in 
the tombs show powerful, though by no means gigantic, 
bodies. 

The hands and feet were small. The small handles of 

* It is said that the old Norse has one hundred and fifty words to 
express the sea in its different appearances! 
f Bunsen. 



Appeakance of Norsemen. 471 

the weapons, preserved in Northern museums, excite as- 
tonishment even now. This delicacy was thought a sign 
of noble blood. 

The color was blonde. Gods and goddesses had the 
light hair and pure color. The elves were fair ; only the 
dwarfs were dark. Baldur, the god of beauty and love, 
was blonde ; the divine women, Iduna and Gerda, had the 
whitest arms, and Gerda fills air and sea with her brilliancy.* 
The thralls were black. Disgracefully as the Americo- 
Norman has yielded to his prejudice against color, he 
comes ethnologicaljy by it. The old Norse curse was "Be 
a black slave !" Hagny, the spouse of King Hior Halfson, 
brought forth black and ugly twins. Fearing the wrath 
of her lord, she exchanged them with the new-born twins 
of a servant maid, which were fair. As they grew up, 
the latter began to show their slavish cowardice, while the 
others, though thralls, bore themselves like the free-born. 
At length, the queen disclosed it to the father, but he 
would have nothing to do with the "hell-skins," and left 
them in slavery. 

An equal sign of the genuine Northman was his eye, 
which must be bright and sparkling, "with a quick play, 
like the serpent's."f 

Siegfried, to escape his pursuers, disguised himself as a 
miller's maid ; but his eyes betrayed him, and he escaped 
by saying that he was an imprisoned Yalkyria from the gods. 

" Thou hast a noble man's eyes !" said Sterlingson ta the 

* Dr. Weinhold. f Ibid. 



472 TheNokse-Folk. 

defeated Hrafa, who, disguised as a peasant, sought hospi- 
tality at his fireside. 

The nose was high and straight. A small, distorted nose 
was the sign of serfdom. The hair was yellow and golden, 
and, on the women of beauty, very long. Jarl Thorgnyr, 
of Jutland, sits on the hill where his wife is buried, when a 
swallow, flying over, drops a human hair, long as a man and 
of golden brilliancy. The Jarl is entranced, and swears he 
must win her whose it had been. He discovers it is Inge- 
gerd's, the daughter of the Russian king. 
, The men wore the beard full and long, but only seldom 
the moustache. Of a celebrated Bonder, it is related that 
his beard fell over his knees when he sat. 



THE RUNES. 

The earliest written language of the Teutonic tribes in 
Scandinavia — the Runic — was evidently obtained by them 
through the Phoenicians and Greeks, and derived from East- 
ern Asia.* Like the original Hebrew, each letter was an 
idaeogram ; it represented not a sound, but a thought, or an 
object, the word for which began with the letter in question. 
Though, by the abstract and sensual tendency of the Ger- 
man mind, thus early made a language of hieroglyphics, it 
was not confined to any one class. All who were educated 
used it. The Runic has left few important traces of itself ; 

* (Dr. Weinhold — Bunsen.) The only exception to this origin of 
the Runes, is the letter B. , 



The Runes. 473 

and when, after the trading and plundering expeditions of 
the early Vikings, the people began to come in contact with 
the less cumbersome and difficult alphabet of the Latin 
races, the latter easily prevailed over the Runes. So that, 
except burial inscriptions and a few historical notations, the 
Runic language has given nothing to the world, while all the 
ancient sagas and chronicles have been rendered and handed 
down in the Eoman alphabet. The Runic stones prevail 
most between the tenth and twelfth centuries, and disap- 
pear after the thirteenth. The Runes yielded first* in the 
churches, and among the monks and priests, to the Roman 
letters ; and the change was undoubtedly one of the most 
fortunate circumstances for the improved culture of the 
Scandinavian races. Owing to the mystery attached in 
early times to writing, the Runes were, from a remote age, 
looked on as something magical or mysterious. Each letter 
was thought to have a peculiar supernatural power. There 
were runes of love ; runes of medicine ; runes of victory ; 
of life and of death. 

In an old Swedish ballad we hear — 



" The first stroke she struck on the gold-harp, 
So sweetly did it sound, 
The wild deer, both in wood and wold, 
Forgot to leap and bound, 
Ye practise the runes so well. 

" The third stroke she struck on the gold-harp, 
So sweetly did it play, 

* Dr. Legis — Die Runen. 



474: The Noese-Folk. 

The little fish in the flood below, 
Forgot to swim away, 
Ye practise the runes so well."* 

By runes, Odia compelled the Vala to awake from the 
dead, in the realms of Hela. " By runes, he could Tanquish 
armies, destroy the edge of weapons, raise or lay tempests 
on land or sea, put out fires, fill the hearts of men with 
terrors, or tranquillize the heart in sorrow."f 

The runes even yet survive in Sweden, in calendars and 
business-notations among the peasantry. 

* Howitt's Northern Europe. f Ibid. 



1 1 1. 



Denmark. 



i 



CHAPTER XLIL 



COPENHAGEN. 



Copenhagen is only an hour or two from Malmo by steam- 
boat. I find the Danish capital a most agreeable old city, 
impressing one as it is always described, as a centre of much 
cultiyation and intelligence. The manners of the people are 
exceedingly pleasant and courteous. Hospitality is given in 
the most simple and refined mode, and the table-companies 
show the sparkling wit and grace for which the Danes are so 
distinguished. It is surprising how generally education is dis- 
tributed. The landlord of my hotel, for instance — the Loven, 
a second-rate house, though a most comfortable one — is a 
cultivated gentleman, speaking foreign languages, and inte- 
rested in the scholarship and politics of the day. The 
schools are on a much better footing than either the Swed- 
ish or Norwegian schools. Then the facilities for study 
here, for the investigation of Northern antiquities and 
language, and for the pursuits of art, are remarkable. The 
collection of old Norse remains, of gold, bronze, iron, 
amber, pottery and bone, gathered from the thousands of 
tombs and tumuli over Denmark, Sweden and Norway, is 
excellent — worth alone a journey to Copenhagen to investi- 

477 



478 The JSTorse-Folk. 

gate. The arrangement — made by an enthusiast in the 
science, Prof. Thomson, is most clear and philosophical, and 
is said to have been imitated in the British Museum and all 
succeeding collections. Whether the professor's theory of 
the different "ages" of the different materials should be 
altogether accepted, is quite another question. I was 
shown also over the Royal Library by the librarian, and had 
the pleasure of seeing some of the old Icelandic MSS. Still, 
to be honest, I must own that books, as antiquities — that is, 
in the evidences they show of manual skill and labor — do not 
interest me as do other objects of antiquity, those especially 
more intimately associated with the life of a young people. 

There is evidently much very pleasant sociality in the 
open air here, such as we see in the German cities. The 
parks and gardens around the city are thronged with cheer- 
ful groups of people. Time passes here with the intelligent 
agreeable society you meet, most easily. 

It is an unfortunate time, however, for an American to 
visit the Danish capital. I cannot but feel a species of well- 
bred constraint among people which I never met with in 
Sweden. America is just now detested (during the disa- 
greement on the Sound-Dues), as a quarrelsome bully, 
who is trying to wrest an ancient estate from a weak 
neighbor ; and the Danish press foment this feeling by the 
most exaggerated stories of our coarse social manners and 
our corrupt politics, and by repeating many " ower true " 
accounts of the disgraceful tyranny and servitude in our 
Southern States. One gentleman I have met- — who said he 
was probably commercially more interested in the Sound- 



Sound-Dues. 479 

Dues question than any house in Denmark — allowed that 
we had complete justice ; that we were under no obligations 
to recognize the old arbitrary dues and restrictions esta- 
blished in feudal times by other powers, in treaties of which 
we were never parties. I told him that I was sure, so far 
as it was a question of money, it was a matter of no 
importance to the American government ; what we objected 
to was the principle. If the Danish government chose to put 
the same tax every year on our merchantmen, as compensa- 
tion for her building light-houses and providing other securi- 
ties on the coast, I was certain, though it might be considered 
exorbitant, the United States would never think it a fit sub- 
ject for a national protest. But we were determined never 
to submit to anything like an arbitrary restriction on the 
liberty of the, seas. We were the first to object to the 
traditional tribute to the Barbary powers, and had gone to 
war on the question. We had resisted, in a similar way, 
the asserted English "right of search f and we intended to 
do so to the end, and for my part, I believed it was to be 
one of the good services of the American people to the 
world, that they would break up the ancient traditional 
exactions and injustices which had cramped the free inter- 
course of nations. 

In my experience thus far of the Danes, they impress me 
as very different from the other Norse-peoples. There is a 
more polished fineness and grace among them, more wit and 
humor and sparkle ; but they seem by no means to have the 
coarse power and independence of the Norwegians, or the half- 
chivalric courage and ardor of the Swedes. There appears 



4:80 The Noese-Folk. 

something more petty and weak and dependent in them ; 
the natural effect, probably, of a small State, pressed and 
overborne by neighboring great powers. Gossip seemed to 
be more prevalent in Copenhagen than in the northern cities 
of their brethren, and small interests more to occupy the 
public mind. 

Among the most characteristic institutions of the coun- 
try, are the Courts of Conciliation and the Cloisters for nolle 
ladies. 

These admirable Courts of Compromise, whose consti- 
tution I have already described, were established first by 
the Danish government, in It 55, in the West Indies, and 
afterwards in 1795, in Denmark itself. They have proved 
thoroughly successful here. In 1843, the number of cases 
brought before these courts was 31,338, of which 21,512 
were settled, 299 postponed, and 9,52t referred to courts 
of law, where only 2, 8 It were prosecuted. 

The fact that they have been estabhshed, and so often 
employed, reflects honor on both the nation ^nd its govern- 
ment. 

THE DANISH CLOISTERS. 

These extraordinary institutions, the relics of medieval 
times, are designed alone for the ladies of the nobility. 
They are not merely interesting historically, but they con- 
tain in their management a new commercial assurance prin- 
«iple, which, it is remarkable, has not yet been applied in 
England or America. 

The cloisters were formerly Catholic convents with large 



Cloistees. 481 

properties, which, after the Reformation, in place of being 
appropriated to purposes of education, or confiscated to 
the Crown, as was done in so many European countries, 
were made the bases of what may be called " Maiden 
Assurance Companies " for the families of the nobles. That 
is, a Danish gentleman, at the birth of a daughter, for 
instance, deposits $2,000 in the funds of one of these 
cloisters^ and registers his daughter's name as a member. 
She is to receive four per cent, interest, or eighty dollars 
per annum, till she is married, or till she dies ; in either 
of these cases, the fund deposited goes into the general 
fund of the Cloisters. - 

If she remains single, she enters with the eighteen names 
above her, as the places become vacant by marriage or 
death, into what is called the "third class," where she 
receives two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, and rooms 
and appointments free in the cloisters ; still later, with 
nineteen Others, when the places become still further vacant 
by marriage or death, she rises into the " second class," 
where the income is five hundred dollars, with similar 
privileges. The highest, or "third class," composed also 
of twenty members, enjoys one thousand dollars income. 

If a young lady, who has merely been receiving the inter- 
est, and has advanced to no class, should be married and 
become a widow in needy circumstances, the sum of five 
hundred dollars is allotted to her. If the sum has not been 
otherwise appropriated, a dower of one thousand dollars 
can be given from the surplus funds of the cloisters, to her 
on her marriage. 

SI 



482 The JSTok s e-F olk . 

These cloisters had all, in the beginning, properties of 
greater or less amount, but these have been immensely 
increased by this assurance system, which varies in the 
different institutions. Taking any number of young girls, 
the probabilities are so much greater both of their marrying 
or dying than of living single, that the chance makes a 
fair basis for an assurance company, while, on the other 
hand, any father would gladly risk that small amount of 
deposit, if he could insure his daughter against poverty 
or dependence, in case she remained single after his death ; 
at the same time, receiving for her share a fair per centage, 
previous to her marriage, if she did marry, and possibly 
also a dower amounting to half his deposit. One of the 
especial evils of modern society, is the uncertain dependent 
position of single ladies in the educated classes. By such 
a society as this, such persons would be held in secure 
and comfortable circumstances, and would be living, in fact, 
on the assurance profits derived from those who, in other 
directions, had been more fortunate than they. 

The members need not live in a building owned by the 
society, or make any public announcement of membership. 
It might be simply a kind of life-assurance, only designed 
for women alone, and with the addition, that the stock- 
holders who derived the most benefit, were maiden ladies. 
The Danish experiment by no means proves that such a 
tociety would be commercially " profitable elsewhere. But 
oil the face of it, it seems a reasonable scheme for any 
civilized country. 

The most prominent of these cloisters in Denmark, are 



Thorwaldsen. 483 

], that of Yallo in Seland, founded by Qneen Sophia 
Madeline, in ItSt. The Abbess or Principal must be con- 
nected with the Royal Family, and the Deaconess must 
be the widow of some official in the first rank of nobility. 
The first has $3,500 salary, the second $1,800, with resi- 
dence and appointments in the institution. It is designed 
alone for the families of the nobility and the functionaries 
of government. Capital, besides forests and other landed 
property, in 1851, 1,840,000 riks dollars. 2. The Clois- 
ter of Yemmeltofte, founded in 1*735. Capital, 945,600 
riks dollars. 3. That of Gisselfeld, in Seland, founded in 
lt99. 4. Roeskilde, date 1699. Capital, 234,214 riks 
dollars. 5. Odense, lUT. Capital, ^8,000 riks dollars. 
6. Stovringgaard, It 35. Capital, 161,180 riks dollars. 



thorwaldsen's museum. 

The charm and attraction which, to the lovers of art, 
surround the Danish capital, which alone draw multitudes 
hither, come from one man's genius — Thorwaldsen. 

I find nothing in modern plastic art nearly so graceful or 
so attractive as his sculpture. I have long known the 
casts of his best works ; but they give really no fair 
conception of his genius. The exquisite severity and 
[)urity of outline, the gentle shadowing and change of 
surface, expressing the most delicate sentiments, and, as 
it were, the fullness of exuberant life in the marble, are 
lost in the plaster. The cast is more shrunken, stiff, and 
eveu. harder, and^ except in the expression of very strong 



484: The ISTokse-Folk. 

action and vigor, does not fully convey the ideal. This is 
contrary^o my own impression, which has always been that 
the cast often left an effect on the feeling as distinct and 
pleasing as the original. 

I wrote these words under the fresh impression of his 
works. They express still their effect on my own mind : 

'' There are feelings in the life of the soul which are the 
most exquisite, joyous and radiant that ever visit man. All 
other joys are poor and commonplace by their side. The. 
memory alone of them is sweeter than all after pleasures. 
They belong to the fresh morning of life — to its bloom, and 
hope, and cheeriness. They are spirits who, with the fra- 
grance and beauty of a happier sphere, come once to us in 
that early morning, and come not again. It is not given, 
except to poets, to utter the exceeding joy which they bring 
into human life. All that is most delicate and luxurious 
and cheerful in Nature, become their fitting expression. 
The song of thrushes and nightingales, the fragrance of 
roses and apple-blossoms, the richness of summer flowers, 
the sparkle of waves, the glimmer of moonlight, the radi- 
ances of spring-sunshine, all the sweetness and gaiety of the 
outward world, are their language. How even the poor 
and ignorant long to express this overflowing joy ! It comes 
forth in music, in songs, in the merry dance. Words cannot 
give it. It is too subtle for language. The grace of life, 
the luxury and the unspeakable deliciousness of youth and 
love, have no verbal medium fine enough to convey them. . 

It seems to me Thorwaldsen, like the Greeks, has been 
able to utter these evanescent and most delicate sentiments, 



SCULPTTJEE. 485 

The joyfulness and gracefulness of youth, the exquisite 
pleasures of love, the gaiety and frolic and blitheness of the 
morning of life, are his subjects. In his frolicsome children, 
and the lithe springing forms of his youths, in the sweetness 
of maidens and the luxury of womanly beauty, in classic 
scenes, revived with a feeling and naturalness which no 
other modern has shown, we feel the joy of life uttered. It 
is the very pleasure of radiant love and tender passion. We 
see that here is a touch which can trace the most delicate 
and beautiful sentiments and never slur them. 

The bloom and grace of the first affection, the sweetness 
of youth, the luxury and abandon of a happy heart, the 
thrill of impassioned love, are drawn and made alive on the 
cold marble-slab. It is wonderful I That which words are 
too earthly to give ; which comes up in never-to-be-forgotten 
memories, or in insatiable longings with every fragrant 
breath of spring and sweet melody of music ; which alone 
once felt can make henceforth the meanest life beautiful, 
and of which the slightest traces and associations are more 
delicious than all succeeding enjoyments — this the Northern 
artist has been able to utter in the difficult language of 
sculpture, and to leave its enduring expression in the hard 
stone 1 Such a man has given a Spring to the world ; he is 
a poet of its happiness. 

I think, as I walk about the city and see his thoughts, in 
saloons, in poor men's houses, in cellars and taverns, that in 
future, long after their petty princes and statesmen are for- 
gotten, this great heart will be cherished by the people, and 
perhaps, in far distant ages, the only thing which wiU pre- 



486 The ISTokse-Folk. 

serve the memory of the Danish capital, will be that it was 
the home of Thorwaldsen." 

The Museum of his works is, on the whole, well arranged — 
each important statue has a little apartment for itself, the 
light coming from above, and the walls being lined with 
suitable bas-reliefs. These reliefs are to me among the 
most precious of his works, and yet those of which the casts 
give the feeblest impression. It is very difficult, however, 
to get a good light for them in private houses. Tiey 
demand, I think, a strong side-light. 

Certainly, of all the representations of Christ, either in 
painting or sculpture, Thorwaldsen's is the most effective. 
It is known now through the world That attitude of 
benignant and merciful dignity, of a noble pity and con- 
descension, are made familiar in thousands of copies — yet it 
is not satisfactory. The original, however, is much more so 
than the casts. The giant size, perhaps, lessens the im- 
pression of weakness which the traditional face of Christ 
always leaves ; and, standing in its niche in a church (the 
Frue Kirke), overlooking the row of apostles and the wor- 
shippers, with the strong lights and shadows from above on 
tts features, one can sometimes realize faintly the ineffable 
grandeur and nobleness of that life of Suffering and Love, of 
which this is the feeble representation. 

It is a remarkable thing, and shows the genius of Thor- 
waldsen, that he who has, above all modern artists, best 
restored th^ spirit of classicism, could not read a word of 
Crreek or Latin, and could not write his own language 
correctly 1 



Thokwalbsen's Parentage. 487 

An interesting life lias appeared of him, by Thiele, going 
rather too much into detail, but showing clearly the strug- 
gles and difficulties of the great artist. -Poverty, depend- 
ence, and disappointment were some of the nurturing 
circumstances which surrounded the growth of his genius. 
He was the son of a maker of figure-heads for ships, an 
Icelander, though he himself was born in Denmark. While 
he was struggling with fortune at Rome, and just beginning 
to win his first, chaplets, the father died in an almskouse in 
Denmark — an event for which Thorwaldsen, though by no 
means at fault, never ceased to reproach himself, and, most 
of all, his titled friends, who had promised to assist the 
old man. The first great work which made Thorwaldsen 
known to the world, was his Jason,^ which yet ranks as 
among his best. An English gentleman bought it. 

His life shows many of the peculiarities of genius. He 
was sometimes for a long period — even a whole year — under 
the most gloomy fits of depression, and utterly unable to 
labor, and then again he would throw off his most exquisite 
works with incredible rapidity. 

* It is related by Thiele that a Danish lady of rank, who had 
encouraged the young artist when laboring at this statue, was 
revisiting his studio years after, with a company of friends, when he 
had become a great man, and, as they passed a cast of Jason, she 
said, patronizingly, "Thorwaldsen! that is my child, you know!" 
The artist, who remembered probably the years of suffering and trial 
and disappointment, before this work came forth, looked by no means 
pleased, and said bluntly, "Well, madam, you had very few pains of 
labor for it !" 



488 



The Nokse-Folk. 



He lived to win the praise of all Europe, as the greatest 
modern sculptor, and to return to his fatherland, to receive 
the highest honors and most cordial welcome from his 
countrymen. 



I 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. 
f 

To every student of the religious beliefs of the world, the 
mythology of the Scandinavians must be deeply interesting. 
I regret that I can only treat it cursorily. 

The tendency of the modern mind, it seems to me, on 
subjects of this nature, is to refine too much. A consistent 
and profound philosophy is assumed too often as the basis 
for ancient mythologies, as though every fancy and trick 
and dream of the religious imagination must have its deep 
spiritual meaning, and this alone is to be sought for. The 
early men and women were simple, child-like, imaginative 
beings, who clothed a thousand fancies and childish beliefs 
in bodily forms. Sometimes great natural laws were thus 
embodied ; sometimes profound moral truths, but they were 
nearly all accidental, and the fruit of poetic instinct rather 
than logical reflection. Under all these pictures and modes 
of presentation of different nations are, of course, great 
natural laws, showing the effect of climate, temperament, 
and history, on the religious imagination. These are legiti- 
mate objects of study. All philosophical conclusions be- 
yond these, seem to me doubtful, though still interesting 
speculations. 

21* 489 



490 The Norse-Folk. 

The mythology of the Northmen, even as their early pagan 
customs and their language, reveals probably an oriental 
origin. Here, as in the Persian, is a contest forever being 
waged between Matter and Spirit, Darkness and Light, 
Evil and Good, ending at length in the complete triumph 
of Love and Goodness over the evil powers. 

In the beginning, were two worlds, the Fire World * and 
the Mist World ; f from the one came forth poisonous 
frost vapors ; from the other, life-giving fire. The meeting 
of these two in the Abyss J brings forth the first chaotic 
world-mass. § Of the A.byss the Edda says, " It was Time's 
morning when Ymir lived. There was no sand, no sea, 
no cooling billows; Earth there was none; no lofty Heaven. 
Only the Gulph of Ginunga."|| This matter produces of 
itself the evil powers, the Frost-giants, and Mountain-giants. 
At the same time arises an animal power, which cherishes 
and refines the mass of matter, until a high creative Divine 
Power unfolds itself, which creates in three forms. Spirit, 
Will, and Holiness.^ They soon blend together in the 
All-Father, the Spirit — Odinn. 

Henceforth, despite the power of Spirit, there is a con- 
tinual struggle between the Beings of light — the JEsir, 
and the powers of chaos and darkness — the Giants and 
Dwarfs. These latter dwell in the frozen North, in moun- 
tains, in desolate places, and send forth the winter, the 
night, tempests, and diseases. The Sun and Moon, which 

* Muspelheim. \ Niflheim. :|: Ginunga-gap. 

§ Pennock's Translation of Keyser. || Hewitt's Translation. 

f Odinn.— ViU.—Ve. 



Myths. 491 

are the sparks of the Fire-World, are continually hunted 
by these powers — the Jotun wolves — and have no rest. 
The ^sir protect the green and living Earth, which they 
visit on the bridge of the rainbow : The Dwarfs — the 
agents of evil — they confine in useful labors within the 
mines and caverns of the world. 

The power which creates man, again appears in a three- 
fold form — Spirit, Light, and Fire.^ 

The Ash-tree, Yggdrasill, is one of the grand mystical 
figures of the Northern Mythology. The best students of 
the Eddas suppose it to represent Universal Nature. It 
has three roots, one from the Abyss, one from the source 
of the evil and chaotic powers, and one from the homes 
of the spirits of light. It is represented as forever suffer- 
ing. " The Ash Yggdrasill endures more hardships than 
than any one knows ; The hart bites off its branches, its 
trunk decays, and the Dragon of Death gnaws at its root." 
Yet the tree is forever green with the sprinkling of the 
celestial Fountain. The higher powers support and pre- 
serve the material Nature. 

By this Fountain are three dread beings, who, in the 
Northern Mythology, as in the Grecian, lie back of the 
present order of things — ^beyond and above even the spirits 
of light, the ^sir — they are the three Goddesses of Time 
and Fate,*!" the Fast, the F resent, and the Future ; the 
Nornir, the allotters of Birth and of Death. All Nature, 
the decrees of the ^sir, the lives of men, the existence 

* Odinn, — Haenir, — Lodurr, — Pennock. 
•j- Urdier, Yerdandi and Skuld. 



492 The Noese-Folk. 

of the Gods, are under their control. The whole cosmogony 
is of Time, and perishes with it. 

Of the particular personalities of the Gods in this My- 
thology, it is not necessary here to speak. They seem often 
the embodiment alone of the powers of Nature : and some- 
times of its abstract qualities, and their history is a con- 
tinuation of the dire struggle between the powers of good 
and of evil, the representation of which runs through the 
whole mythology. The Heaven of the Northmen is one 
of the most sensual pictures of the celestial abodes which 
mythology has given us, and at the same time, most char- 
acteristic of the race. The hero who had fallen in battle, 
was taken by the invisible maidens to the halls of Yalhalla. 
If he had died in his bed of sickness or of old age, there 
was no entrance for him to those abodes. There, in the 
splendid banqueting rooms, he found the warriors and sea- 
kings and heroes of his country assembled, feasting on boiled 
pork and mead and wine, served by "beautiful maidens. 
Each day, the company goes forth to fight each other, and 
after the glowing excitement of the combat (than which 
the Northman knew no more heavenly emotion), the 
ghastly wounds are instantaneously cured, the hewn limbs 
restored, the hacked armor rebrightened, and the brave 
heroes return for the other enjoyment of their Heaven — 
wassail and wine. 

This was the popular belief. But behind all this, the 
Eddas draw a picture which redeems the Northern supersti- 
tion from its sensuality, and places the Scandinavian mytho- 
logy among the most robust, if not the most moral of human 



The Final STRuaGLE. 493 

mythologies. We have seen, in the theory of creation and 
the history of the gods, the solemn, dark conception of a 
mighty struggle going on between the Powers of Good and 
of Evil. Through it all runs also a warning of a final 
mighty contest between these powers, which is to end in 
fearful destruction — the age so poetically known in the 
Eddas as the " Twilight of the Gods." 

The human mind usually cannot bear to imagine the 
annihilation of itself. It holds on to the present order of 
things. Its heaven, its gods, itself, will at least survive the 
final wreck of matter. Not so with the vigorous and really 
moral imagination of the Scandinavian Northman. In his 
faith, there was to come a fearful destruction and conflagra- 
tion of heaven and earth, of men and gods, of the world 
below and Valhalla above — a day of awful wrath, whose 
description vies in terror with the fearful pictures in the 
vision of the Apostle of the final judgment. 

The growing wickedness of earth shows its approacL 
The Voluspa says of the seeress : 

•' There saw she wade 
In the heavy streams, 
Men — foul perjurers, 
And murderers, 
And they who others' wives 
Seduce to sin. 

" Brothers slay brothers ; 
Sisters' children 
Shed each other's blood. 
Hard is the world : 
Sensual sin grows huge. 



494 Th E N O R S E - F O L K . 

There are sword-ages, axe-ages, 
Earth-cleaving cold ; 
Storm-ages, murder-ages, 
Till the world falls dead, 
And men no longer spare 
Or pity one another."* 

It is a time of snows and winter, and tempest and dark- 
ness. The sun and moon are swallowed up, and heaven is 
sprinkled with blood. The bright stars vanish, the earth 
trembles, and the mountains are shaken from their base. 
But these sons of the North, even in the last convulsions of 
matter, are not those who call upon the mountains to cover 
them. They die in armor. In the fearful chaos and destruc- 
tion, each god and spirit buckles on his armor, and hastens 
on to the great battle-field — the vast plains of Yigrid. The 
giant powers of evil are abroad. The Wolf, which fills the 
space between earth and heaven with its jaws, comes forth. 
The mighty Serpent, who had supported the world, rocks 
the ocean in his writhings, and blows out venom over air 
and sea. Over the lurid ocean sails the ship made of dead 
men's nails, carrying the weird Frost Giants. In the final 
battle, all the great powers of evil, and the historical gods, 
are destroyed, and the earth is burned up. Of Valhalla, we 
hear no more. 

A new earth comes forth, eternally green and fair. Bal- 
dur, the god of purity and love, survives, and with him a 
few of the purer gods. A new race of men is born. All 
evil ceases, and sorrow and trouble come no more. 

* Howitt's Translation. 



The Day of Doom. 495 

"In Gimle, the lofty, 
There shall the hosts 
Of the virtuous dwell, 
And through all ages 
Taste of deep gladness." 

The close, so grand and so mysterious, pointing to the 
vague idea which always was behind the mythology, of an 
unnamable Spirit, we give in the words of the Voluspa, 
the ancient poem of the Edda.*f 

" Then shall the Mighty One come from above : He who 
ruleth over all ; whose name man dares not to utter. 

" He cometh in his power to the great judgment-seat ; 
he will appease all strife, and will establish a holy peace, 
which shall endure eternally. But the foul Dragon, the 
venom-spotted Nidhoggu (the Dragon of Death and Dark- 

* Pennock's Keyser. 

f Of him another passage of the Edda : 

" Then one is born 
Higher than all ; 
He becomes strong 
With the strengths of earth. 
The mightiest King, 
Men call him ; 
Fast knit in peace 
With all powers. 

" Then comes Another, 
Yet more mighty ; 
But Him dare I not 
Venture to name. 
Few farther may look 
Than to where Odinn 
To meet the wolf goes." 



496 The Noese-Folk. 

ness), flees away over the plains and sinks out of sight, 
bearing death upon his wings." 

So closes this robust prophecy — the restoration, the super- 
intending Spirit, not appearing so distinct and certain as the 
destruction and ruin. Here again the tone is vigorous and 
moral to the Jast ; the instincts of the bards seeing clearly 
the wickedness and the sensuality, but not discerning so 
clearly the redemption of nature. The Eddas prepared not 
unnaturally for the Evangelists. 



APPENDIX. 



I. — STATISTICS OF NORWAY. 
{From Mr. Sundfs Notes.) 



Province. 


Number of Preachers. 


Population to every Preacher. 


Year 

Chrisliania 


1815 

164 
64 
68 
62 

47 


1855 

163 
74 
69 
67 
51 


1815 

2263 

2283 
2343 
2260 
1627 


1845 

3376 
2978 
8248 
31180 
2166 


1865 


Christiansand 

Bergen 

Trondjera 

Tromsoe 

Total.... 


407 


429 


2190 


3097 


(3473) 



Year. 


Marriages. 


Legitimate 
Children. 


Illegitimate 
Children, 


Percentage of 
lUegit. Births 
to Legitimate. 


Percentage of 

Illegit. Births to 

Marriages. 


1801-5 


33,917 


118,496 


7,452 


6.3 


21.9 


1806-10 


31,389 


115,905 


8,072 


7.0 


25.7 


1811-15 


37.129 


116,369 


8,3(18 


7.1 


22.4 


1816-20 


41,583 


142,371 


12,136 


8.5 


29.2 


1821-25 


44,081 


157,984 


12,670 


8.0 


28.7 


1826-30 


42,558 


167,284 


12,614 


7.5 


29 6 


1831-85 


42,233 


169,2.52 


1'2,111 


T.2 


28.7 


1836-40 


40,681 


159,606 


12,017 


7.5 


29.5 


1841-45 


50,590 


179,670 


15,731 


8.8 


31.1 


1846-50 


52,506 


193,408 


17,479 


9.0 


33.3 


1851-55 


56,499 


' 213,004 


21,590 


10.1 





497 



498 



Appendix. 



POPULATION IN NORWAY. 


TO EVERT 10,000 PERSONS BET. 20 AND 30 TEARS. 


I'elwefn QO and SO yeais of a^e. j 


Years. 


Marriages. 


11 egit. Chil- 
dren Living. 


Year, 1811 136,959 i 1801—1810 

" 1815 161,090 h 1811—1820 

» 1825 175,482 II 1821—1830... 

" 1835 ..172,348 ' 1831—184) 

" 1845 239,266 - 1841—1850 


477 
492 
494 

481 
431 


113 
128 
144 
140 
139 



COMPARISON OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE STATISTICS. 



Report of Percentage of Illegitimate Births to Marriages^ 1851-'2. 



District. 

Group 1. — District around Christiania, 

" 2. — Upper Romer ke, Osterdal, Hede- 

mark, and Guilbrandsdal 

" 3.— V alders, lladeland, Kougsbers:,. . . 

" 4.— Draintnen, Jarlsberg, LaUvik, 

Lower Theleniark, 

" 5. — Upper Thelemark and District near 

Christiansand, 

" 6. — Mandal, Lister, and Dalecarlia,... 
" 7.— Stavanger and region near by,.. . 



Official Report. 



39.4 per ct. 

66.3 " 

36.0 " 

25.7 " 

42.2 " 

16.3 " 

11.6 " 

20.2 » 



Private Report. 



37.4 per ct. 

65.3 " 

33.5 " 

25.4 " 

39.7 " 

14.1 « 

11.4 " 

17.4 " 



Report of Proportion of Illegal Connections * Producing Children^ 
to Legal Marriages, 1851-'52. 


Districts. 


MALES. 


FEMALES. 


Clflss 1. 
Freeholders. 


Class 2. 
Laborers. 


Class 1. 
Freeholders. 


Class 2. 
Laboiors. 




21 
26 
19 
12 

10 

6 

11 


45 

85 
42 
32 

17 
20 
23 


9 

12 
12 

4 

4 
4 
5 


52 

92(0 
46 
35 

21 

23 
28 

J 


" 9 


ct 3 


" 4, 

" 5 


" 6, 


It 7, 





* This is, more strictly, Mrths — but the proportion is made in order to show the 
relation of illegal to legal connections. 



Appendix. 



499 



Districts. 



Year, . 



G-roupt 1,. 

" 2,. 

" 8,. 

" 4,. 

" 5,. 

" 6,- 

" 7,. 



The Schools and Morals. 



Number of School-Chil- 
dren* for each Teacher 
in the Couny School. 



1837 

95 

109 

9S 

79 

61 

65 

77 



1840 

89 

103 

91 

80 

59 
68 

77 



Proportion of Chil 
dren from 7 to 15 
who have entire- 
ly neajlected the 
School. Aveiage 
both years. 



1837—1840 

A- 

5.5 
9.5 

7.8 
6.3 

5.4 
18 
3.6 



Proportion to mar- 
riages of Illegi- 
timate Births.— 
City and counly. 



89.4 
66.3 

86.0 
25.7 

16 8 
11.6 

20.2 



Expenses for Schools {except toard 
of t'(ichers) to each person in 
Christiania Province. 

Skillings. 

Group 1, 7.4 

" 2, T.l 

" 3, 7.5 

" 4, 9.2 

ChrisUansand Province. 

Group 5, 10.2 

" 6, 7.0 

" 7, 5.6 



Percentage of Illegal Connections 
to Marriages. 

Men. Women. 

45 52 

85 92 

42 46 

32 85 

Christiansand Province. 

17 21 

20 23 

23 28 



It will be observed in these statistics that Norway, in respect of 
sexual morality, has been steadily retrograding, since the beginning 
of this century. In the four years preceding 1865, every tenth child 
born in the whole country was illegitimate ! and in the four years 
preceding 1850, the number of unlawful connections between the 
sexes amounted to one third of the whole number of marriages. 

It will also be observed in the succeeding statistics that the immor- 
ality keeps very even pace with the want of religious opportunities, 
and that the most vice prevails where are the fewest preachers to the 
population. The singular custom of the Fria is observed in many 
districts of Norway; and I am informed by the statistician, Mr. 
SuNDT, from whom these facts are obtained, that the proportion of 
unlawful births is in almost precise relation to the extent of this cus- 
tom, as is certainly to be expected. 



* The most of these children do not attend school over eight weeks in the year, 
t The names in the Groups have already been given. 



500 Appendix. 

It is also to be noted, that where the least money is expended for 
schools, in proportion to the population, there is the lowest state of 
sexual morality. 

In the counties of Upper Eomerike, Osterdal, Hedemark, and Gud- 
brandsdal, the number of school-children to each teacher, in 1840, 
was 103 ; the proportion of non-attendants on schools was more than 
nine per cent. The expenses of schools in these districts are about 
seven cents for each person. The population in the whole province 
to each preacher is larger than in any other province. 

In the same counties, to every 100 marriages there are 92 illegal 
liaisons, bearing children, among the women, and 85 among the men 
of the laboring class. Among the freeholders, the proportion with 
the men is only 26 per cent., and with the women 12 per cent. 

It is doubtful whether any district in Europe will show among the 
laboring class an equal immorality. 

The two great causes, which can be reached by effort, we believe to 
be the want of thorough popular education, and the formalism of 
Church, which has lost its practical hold of the morals of the 
peasants. 

II.— POPULATION AND FURTHER STATISTICS OF NORWAY. 

In the year 1845, the population amounted to 1,328,471 ; to this 
must be added 1,145, who ramble about without having a fixed abode 
in any place, so that the whole population amounts to 1,329,616. 
The whole kingdom has 5,752 (Norsk) square miles, consequently 
about 220 to each square mile. In Norrland there are only about 81, 
and Finnmark only 33 to each square mile. 

The first register of the inhabitants of the country was made 
in 1769, and then the population was only 723,141 in the whole 
kingdom. 

ARMT. 

A standing army was formed first in the year 1628, consisting of 
6,243 soldiers. The Norwegian army now amounts to 23,484 soldiers. 
The artillery makes up one-tenth of the whole army, and the horse- 
men one-tv/elfth. The fortresses of the kindgdom are 13, besides 
some few sconces. The expenses were, in the year 1.848, 747,000 
dollars. 



Appendix. 501 



THE FLEET. 

Frigates, 8 

Corvettes, 5 

Brigs, 1 

Schooners, 5 

Small Steamers, 5 

Gun-Boats, 123 

All seafaring Noi^wegians, from sixteen to thirty years of age, and, 
with certain exceptions, all men in maritime districts, are bound to 
serve five years on national vessels, if called upon. The number thus 
bound at the present time is 47^00. 

Budget for 1851 — $407, 464. The system is very enlightened and 
progressive. One proof is the readiness with which Mr Maury's pro- 
position for the keeping accurate logs of winds, currents, etc., on the 
high seas was accepted ; and his invitation to a Meteorological Con- 
ference at once complied with. 

INCOME OF THE KINGDOM. 

In 1848, 4,696,600 specie dollars ; for this they are chiefly indebted 
to the great revenues of Kongsberg's silver-works. 

EXPENSES. 

In 1848, 2,528,700 sp., of which 105,050 sp. are paid annually to 
the Royal Family in Sweden, and to the maintenance of the Royal 
Palace in Ohristiania. The surplus in the public treasury, at the close 

of 1847, was 2,172,900 sp. 

EXPORTS, 

In respect to exports, the city of Bergen surpasses the other Nor- 
wegian cities, its export being estimated at about 1,700,000 sp., 
yearly; Draramen's 650,000 sp, ; Trondhjem's not fully 500,000 sp. ; 
and Christiania's only 350,000 sp. Next to those cities come Sarpsborg, 
Christiansand, and Tromsoe, The articles of export are principally 
fishes, pickled herrings, train-oil, iron, copper, iron in bars, timber, 
anchovies, and window-glass. 

IMPORTS. 

In the year 1844, the import of provisions, of corn to Christiania 
was 195,000 tons ; to Drammen, 115,000 tons; to Christiansand, 50,000 



502 Appendix. 

tons; to Stavanger, 79,000; and to Trondhjera, 88,000 tons. The 
articles of import are : corn, coffee, sugar, brandy, wine, tobacco, salt, 
butter, hemp, sole-leather, sail-cloth, cotton, etc. 

MINES. 

The most important branch of mining is the production of iron, 
Norway having nineteen iron-works; and the whole production for 
the years 1841-45 was: iron in bars, 24,*75o skippund. Next are the 
copper-works, of which there are nine. The production for the years 
1841-45 was 3,894 sk., yearly. The most important copper-works 
are: Roraas, opened 1644, and Alten, opened 1826. Kongsberg's 
silver mine is an important w^ork. It^as discovered in 1623. For a 
very long series of years, there was only loss in working it ; but since 
1832, it has been very profitable, giving, in the year 1846, 16,0*791 
marks of massive and solid silver. About one milhon species is the 
annual income of the Norwegian mines. 

MANUFACTURES. 

For want of native manufactories, Norway imports manufactures. 
In the year 1846, there were imported of cotton, 888,638 pounds^; of 
stuffs of cotton, 826,414 pounds; of silk wares, 12,560 pounds. The 
glass-making is nearly a failure ; only three glass-works are now in 
operation. Of paper-mills there are only seven, so that paper must 
be in)ported ; soap-houses are increasing, and the making of salt is 
considerable^Vallo salt mine alone produces, yearly, 25,000 tons of 
salt.. Of sugar refineries, the whole kingdom has only one in 
Trondhjem. 

AGRICULTURE. 

Every farm has an average of 6^ acres of land, and the number of 
farms is about 112,930. 

HEALTH. 

In 1845, 1,123 persons were infected with leprosy, mostly on the 
western coast, from Stavanger to Finnmarken- Lazarettos in Bergen, 
and one in Molde, have been erected. 



Appendix. 



503 



III. — An Abstract of the Report in regard to the working of the 
Copper Mine at Alien, in the five years from 1850 to 1855, inclu- 
sively. 

A TABULAR SURYEY OF EXPENSES AND PRODUCTION. 





Disbursements. 




Production. 


TEARS. 

- 


SALARIES. 


MATERIALS. 


TOTAL AMOUNT. 


ORE. 


COPPER. 


Species. 


Skip'd 


Species. 


Skip'd 


Species. 


Skip'd 


Pounds. 


Pounds. 


1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 
1855 

Total 


32,030 
32,345 
33.T43 
88,302 
36,902 


70 
23 

lis 

104 

87 


14,430 
12,480 
14,472 
16,544 
20,850 


49 

12 
32 

101 

108 


46,460 

44,825 
48,216 
54,847^ 
57,753 


119 
35 

30 
85 
75 


4,307,724 
5,107,168 
5,188,128 
5,422,560 
4,370,320 


253.512 
243,238 

276,030 
285,8.89 
231,974 


173,325 


42 


78,778 1 62 


252,103 


104 


24,393,600 


1,292,915 



A Norwegian species (sp.) is about the same as an Arnerican dollar, 
The Norwegian or Danish weight called a skippund (skd.) amounts to 
352 pounds. 

The works consist of twelve larger or less mines and a few pits, 
driven at indeterminate times. No new discovery of any importance 
has been made in the last five years. 

In the year 1855, the copper works supported the following 
population : 

"Workmen in the Mines and Foundry (Furnace): — Men, 218; 
Women, 145 ; Children, 124 ; Administrator, 1 ; Bookkeepers, 2 ; 
Physician, 1 ; Victuallers and assistants, 3; Controller of the foundry, 
1 ; People for ascending and descending, 6 ; Keeper of storehouses, 1 ; 
Teachers, 3; Blacksmiths, 8; Bricklayers, 2; Carpenters, 2; Baker 
and Brewer, 1 ; Shoemakers, 4 ; Tailors, 2 ; Sailors, 3 ; Grooms and 
Drivers, 14; Persons settled at the work and by it nourished, but not 
in certain employment, 47 ; Children not capable of working, 266 ; 
Old and sickly persons, 5. 

Of the above-named, there were in the year 1855, 439 Quanes, 
273 Norwegians, 94 Swedes, 25 Englishmen, 17 Finns (Laplanders), 
5 Russians, and 1 German, adults and children inclusive. 

IY._TEIIRACED BEACHES.— /See p. 90. 
It is an interesting fact, in connection with the ancient terraced 



504 Appendix. 

beaches on the coast of Norway, that Dr. Kane discovered similar 
traces of a secular elevation of the American continent, as far North 
as 81C. 

lie supposes the elevation to have commenced at some point north 
of 76°- In one place, the elevation reached the height of 480 feet. 

He speaks also of a depression of Southern Greenland, correspond- 
ing to the depression of Southern Scandinavia. 

v.— RESUME OF STATISTICS OF SWEDEN. 

Papulation in Sweden, 1854, 8,606,98'7 

Males, 1,750,186 

Females, . 1,856,851 

Population in Stockholm, 95,950 

Number of Prisons in Sweden, 53 ; including 17 Cell-prisons, con- 
taining 1,257 light, and 62 dark cells. 

Number of prisoners in Sweden, ..,....,. 15,472 

Males,.. 12,141 ^ 

Females, 3,831 

Number of prisoners in Stockholm, 4,857 

Eeceipts for prisons and prisoners, 1854, 1,115,641 Rdr., inclusive 
of 882,890 Rdr. appropriated by the Diet. Expenses for same, 
during 1854, 1,113,068 Rdr. 



Children born in Sweden, 1850, ......_ 110,899 

, Males, 66,590 

Females, 68,809 

Children, dead, 68,514 

Males, , 86,596 

Females, 32,919 

Increase of born over dead children, 41,885 

Males,. 20,996 

Females, 20,890 

Children born in Stockholm, 1850, 3,190; including 1,424 illegiti- 
mate children. Children born in other cities, 1860, 7,805; including 
1,588 illegitimate. Children born in the country, 99,404 ; including 
7,368 illegitimate. 



Appendix. 605 

Proportion of illegitimate to legitimate children : at Stockholm, 
1 to 2.25 ; in the other cities, 1 to 5.03 ; in the country, 1 to 1,434. 
Stillborn children in 1850, 3,652. 



Value of Imports from the United States, 1854, . , . 3,250,000 Rdr. 

Tobacco,... 1,120,137 " 

Rice, 23,143 " 

, Sugar, , 432,516 " 

Cotton, • '7,960,'731 " 

Value of Exports, during same year, to the United States : 

Iron, 107,576 " 

Steel, 3,609 " 



Vessels arrived to Sweden from other countries, 10,648 of 418,615 
tons. Vessels cleared from Sweden for other coimtries, 10,574 of 
422,168 tons. 

Custom-House — duties paid during 1854: 

Imported G-oods. Exported. Total Rdr. 

At Stockholm, ...2,086,466 31,805 2,118,271 

At Gefle, 73,577 6,035 79,612 

At Gothenbourgh, 2,321,066 23,400 2,344,466 

It Norrkoping, 294,029 5,743 299,772 

Cotton Spinning Factories, 1854: 14 consuming 8,204,270 lbs. cot- 
ton, producing to the value of 4,188,664 Rdr. 

Clothing Manufactories 109, producing goods to the value of 
4,986,454 Rdr. 

Silk Manufactories 13, making goods to the value of 911,770 Rdr. 

Norrkoping has 86 clothing factories, producing, in 1854, goods to 
the value of 4,053,117 Rdr. 

Number of pupils in the common schools, Stockholm, 

1854, 16,101 

Boys, 7,913 

Girls, 8 188 

Number of Teachers, 34; amount of their salaries, 11,261 Rdr. 
^he income of these schools was, during that year, 24,298 Rdr., and 
their expenses, 16,353 Rdr. 

22 



506 A PPENDIX. 



VI.— STATISTICS OF CHARITY OF STOCKHOLM. 

Houses for receiving poor claildren and institutes of education are 
eight. The largest of these houses contained, in the year 1853, 741 
ciiildren ; and the number adopted from such houses was, in January, 
1864, 2,629. The expenses were, in 1853, about $23,850. 

The Free Maso"/s house for receiving children assisted in educating 
292 childnen.- Their expenses are about $4,780. Marbeekska Insti- 
tution for the education of poor girls, contained 26. - The expenses, 
4,102 Rix. This Institution has, within the last few years, been 
enlarged, so that it can contain double the number of chiMren. 

Ttie youngest of those institutions is the Kronprincess Louisa 
for sick children. A home, a school, and also a hospital, are 
united wiih that Instilution. Tlie school was opened with fifty-eight 
pupils. In the home for children, were received during the last 
year, twelve girls. The Institution has a lady superintendent, and 
the committee consists of three gentlemen and two ladies. Their 
income, from the 31st of October, 1851, was 61,313 Rdr. banko, 
besides the 500 Rdr. banko which the King gave. That sum of 51,313 
banko was obtaiiied partly in gifts, and partly in yearly s^ibscriptions. 
Their expenses, in order to get the Institution in perfect order, 
amounted to 44,330 Riks. There is also another branch attached to 
this Institution — a creche for poor women. 

The income of the city of Stockholm amounted, in the year 1860, 
to 356,440 Riks dollars, and the expenses were 423,906 Rix. 

CRIMINAL STATISTICS. 

03ences of all Kinds. Persons found Guilty. 

39,106 in 1845 33,026 in 1845 

38,814 " 1846 32,401 " 1846 

38,444 " 1847 31,092 " 1847 

36,607 " 1848.. .30,121 " 1848 

34,600 " 1849 ....28,743 " 1849 

Prof. A. C. Knos. 

Taking the whole population at 3,316,536 persons for 1845, the 
number of the guilty, in 1845, is 1 to 92 ; 1846, 1 to 102; 1847, 1 to 
lOG; 1848, 1 to 110; 1849, 1 to 115. 

lu these cases^ however, are reckoned all offences against the most 



Appendix. 507 

minute police laws. It is claimed by intelligent Swedes that Laing, in 
his severe strictures on Swedish immorality, based on the public 
statistical tables, has committed the error of confusing many of these 
arbitrary police ofl'euces with real offences against virtue. 



VII. 

Enghsh view of King Oscar's speech before the Diet of 1856-57 : 
" A Swedish Board of Works is to be established — the King has 
declared ; and forthwith, a plan is to be submitted to the Houses for 
the construction of grand trunk railways, to draw the opposite ports 
of the United Kingdom together. Nor does the government limit its 
present promises to the construction of railways. The establishment 
of railways is to inaugurate, to use the King's words, ' a law still 
more closely in harmony than the last with the wise principle of 
Free Trade.' And, then, would a people enjoying the use of rail- 
ways, free to trade, under liberal enactments — would a people so cir 
cumstanced remain content to live in a state of religious slavery ? 
The question has been wisely answered by the Swedish Government. 
To that persecution of Catholics which has so long disgraced Sweden, 
is to succeed ' an enlightened tolerance for the creed of others, based 
upon neighborly love.' ' It is right,' exclaims King Oscar, ' that 
the people, whose great monarch Gustavus Adolphus fought for free- 
dom of thought and conscience, and which freedom he sealed with 
his blood — ^it is right that such a people should follow his example.' 
These are sentiments that do honor to Bernadotte's son. 

A long time has elapsed since a speech equally important to that 
of King Oscar has been pronounced from a throne. Railways are to be 
suddenly thrown open ; a department of public works is to be estab- 
lished ; freedom is to become the governing principle of commerce ; 
Catholic emancipation is to be declared ; unmarried Avomen are to 
enjoy the rights of majority at twenty-five years of age ; a statistical 
department is to be organized ; and all during one session ! If Swe- 
den has held back somewhat doggedly from the general progress of 
Western Europe — it must be confessed, that our new allies appear 
determined to make up, by vigorous action in the present, for the 
years they have loat." — (Sat. Review.) 



508 Appendix. 

VIII.— CONSTITUTION OF SWEDEN. 
From a French translation prepared for the use of Bernadotte. 

Section 1. 
The kingdom of Sweden shall be ruled by a king; it shall be a 
hereditary monarchy, according to the order of succession of the male 
descendants of the king deceased, who shall be appointed by the 

States. 

Section 2. 

The king shall always be of the pure evangelical doctrine as laid 
down in the confession of Augsburgh and assumed by virtue of the 
Decree of the Synod of tJpsala of the year 1593. 

Section 9. 

There shall be kept a record of all the deliberations that will take 
place before the king in the State Council. The actual members of 
that Council shall indispensably express and explain their opinions, 
and have them recorded ; they shall be responsible for their advice, 
and the final consequence of the same will be determined by §§ 106 
and lO'T, but the decision reserved to the king only. 

Section 12. 

It belongs to the king to form treaties and alliances with foreign 
powers', after having consulted on the subject with the minister of 
foreign affairs and some other member of the State Council. 

Section 13. 

If the king will undertake a war, or make peace, he shall assemble, 
for an extraordinary State Council, all the members of the Council of 
State, representing to them the motives and circumstances to be 
taken into consideration, and asking their advice, which each of 
them shall give privately, in order to be entered in the Journal of 
Records, with the responsibility determined by §107. The king 
hereafter shall have the power to take and execute such resolution as 
he may deem most beneficial to the kingdom. 

Section 14. 

The king shall have the supreme command of the army and navy 
of the kingdom. 



Appendix. 509 



Section 16. 

The objects relative to the military command, that is to say, such 
as are under the immediate care of the king in his quality as chief 
commander of the array and navy, will be decided by the king when 
he rules the kingdom himself in presenxje of that chief of the military 
department to whose province it belongs. Whenever such objects 
are introduced for discussion, that officer is bound upon his own 
responsibihty to declare his opinion on the undertakings made by 
the king, and if his opinion disagree with the resolution of the king, 
to have his representations and counsels consigned to an official 
report certified by the king's signature. If the above mentioned 
officer discovers that those undertakings are of a hazardous nature, 
or founded upon precarious and insufficient means of execution, he 
shall, with the consent of the king, assemble a council of war consist- 
ing of two or more military officers of superior rank, that are pres- 
ent, and have the advices of said council entered upon record. 

Section 16. 

The king shall enforce and favor justice and truth ; prevent and ob- 
struct violence and wrong; neither shall he injure nor permit any one 
else to injure any one's honor or personal liberty and welfare, unless he 
be convicted by law and and condemned, nor shall he seize anything, 
or permit that any one's property, either real or personal, may be 
seized without process^ or judgment according to the rules prescribed 
by the laws and statutes of Sweden, neither shall he injure the peace 
of anybody in his premises nor permit him to be troubled ; nor shall 
he banish any man from one place to another; nor force the liberty 
of conscience of any man or permit it to be forced (strained,) but 
protect every one in the free exercise of his religion, as long as it is 
harmless to the peace of the public and causes no scandal. The king 
shall order judgment to be rendered by the proper tribunal. 

Section 21. 

The king shall have two votes in the decision of matters in which 
he thinks proper to assist in the supreme tribunal. All lawful 
demands may be communicated to the king, and his votes concerning 
the same shall be collected and counted even if he has not joined the 
deliberations in the Supreme Court, 



510 Appendix. 



Section 25. 

In criminal cases it is the king who shall pardon, modify capital 
punishment, and restitute honor as well as the property confiscated in 
favor of the crown. The Supreme Court, however, is to be heard for 
the petitions on that subject, and the king will render his resolution 
in the State Council. It will depend, hereafter, upon the culprit 
whether he will accept the pardon granted to him by the king, or 
suffer the penalty to which he had been condemned. 

Section 29. 

The Archbishop and the Bishops shall be chosen as heretofore, 
and the king shall appoint for those places one of the three candi- 
dates proposed. 

Section 30. 

The king, according to the custom heretofore observed, shall make 
appointments for the royal parsonages. As to the parsonages called 
consistorial, the parishes shall be maintained according to their elec- 
tion law. 

■u Section 31. 

The citizens of the towns shall continue to enjoy the right of pro- 
posing for the office of mayor three capable men ; of whom one 
is to be chosen by the king. In the same ananner it shall be pro- 
ceeded as to the offices of councillors and the secretary of the 
municipality of Stockholm, 

Section 36. 

Those who occupy offices of the administration of either higher or 
lower rank, likewise, all the employes and functionaries, except those 
mentioned in §85, cannot, without preliminary proceedings and judg- 
ment, be dismissed by the king, nor can they be appointed or trans- 
ferred to other offices unless at their own request. 

Section 39. 

If the king will undertake a journey in a foreign land, he shall com- 
municate his object to the State Council when fully assembled, and 
he shall hear the advice on that subject in manner described in §9. 



Appendix. 511 

If, subsequently, the king, after having resolved to travel, accom- 
plishes this design, he will not occupy himself with the government of 
the kingdom, and will not exercise the royal prerogative while travel- 
ling abroad, but the State Council will conduct, during the king's 
arbsence, the government in his name, with all the rights that the 
present form of government attributes to the king ; however, the 
State Council, can never accord titles of nobility, nor promote to the 
rank of count or baron, or distribute orders of knightliood ; likewise 
can all the vacant charges only be temporarily conducted by those 
who will have been constituted for the same by the State Council. 
Whatsoever there is to be observed, if the king remains longer than 
twelve months out of the kingdom, is stated in §91. 

Section 42. 

If the misfortune should happen, that all the male members of the 
royal family which are invested with the right of succession to the 
kingdom' are extinct, the State Council will likewise conduct the 
government with royal power and authority, until the States assem- 
bted have elected a new dynasty and the king elect have taken the 
reins of Government. In each of the cases mentioned in the four 
preceding sections, all the members of the Council shall be present 
in thg State Council and give their opinions. 

Section 49. 

The States of the kingdom, by virtue of the present fundamental 
laws, shall assemble after the lapse of five years since the last session 
of parliament. During the recess of every such session the States 
shall fix the day on which they have to meet again, and record pre- 
cisely the time of the convocation, together with the necessary 
instructions respecting the election of deputies. The king, however, 
will be at liberty to convoke, before that time, the States of the 
kingdom to an extraordinary parliamentary session. 

Section 52. 

The king shall nominate the Marshal of the Diet, the speakers of the 
order of the bourgeoisie and that of the peasants; also the secretary of 
the order of the peasants. The Archbishop shall always be the 
speaker of the order of the clergy. 



512 Appendix. 



Section Y8 

There cannot in future any new tax demand for men, money, or 
food, be ordained, levied or exacted without the free will and consent 
of the States, according to the forms prescribed as above. 

Section 14. 

The king shall not hare the right of exacting any other contribu- 
tion to a war that might occur than a quota of victuals that may be 
required by some county for the maintenance of soldiers during their 
march, when the different cities or villages through which that march 
takes place are unable to furnish the necessary provisions. For such 
contribution, however, there is cash to- be paid without delay to those 
who furnish said provisions by the treasurer, according to the terms 
established for the public markets, and with a rise of one half of their 
amount. Said contribution may not be exacted for soldiers cantoned 
in some place, or employed during the war-operations ; these men 
shall be supplied by the depots established to that end. 

Section 1&. 

Without the consent of the States of the kingdom, the king cannot 
raise loans in the kingdom or in a foreign country ,^ nor encumber the 
State with a new debt. 

Section 19. 

No change of the coin in the kingdom, concerning the title or 
weight either to increase or diminish it, shall take place without the 
consent of the States of the kingdom ; however the right of the king 
to have money coined remains inviolated. 

Section 80. 

The national military establishments for the army and navy shall 
be sustained in accordance with the contracts with the provinces and 
cities ; also the institution called the assessment (repartition) shall 
remain inviolated as to their foundations, until the king and the 
States deem it necessary to make alterations. No new levy of men 
in the country shall take place unless both the king and the States 
consent to issue a decree for that purpose. 



Appendix. 613 



Section 85. 

As fundamental laws are to be considered the present form of 
government, the regulation to assemble the Diets, the Succession Act, 
and the edict concerning the general freedom of the press, which 
laws are to be unanimously established during the session of this 
Diet, by the States and the king, according to the principles laid 
down in the present form of government. 

Section 86. 

By freedom of the press is understood the right of every Swede to 
publish writings without meeting with any obstacle on the part of the 
public authority ; without being thereafter prosecuted for their con- 
tents, except before a legal tribunal, and unless said contents be con- 
trary to the laws tending to maintain the public peace, and stay the 
progress of general information. All the acts and documents rela- 
tive to any cause whatsoever, with exception of the acts which are 
drawn up in the Council of State and before the king, in diplomatic 
affairs and matters of the military command, can be published by the 
press without reserve. There shall not be printed any records or 
documents concerning the bank and public debt which contain 
objects that must be kept secret. 

Section 93. 

When the king dies, and the successor to the throne is a minor, 
the Council shall convoke the States. The publication for the pur- 
pose shall take place within the space of fifteen days after the death 
of the king, in the churches of the capital, and immediately after- 
wards, in the remainder of the kingdom. It is for the States, with- 
out taking into consideration the testament of the king deceased, 
concerning the administration of the kingdom, to constitute one or 
more tutors (guardians,) who shall preside in his name and in accord- 
ance with the present constitution, until the king becomes of age. 

Section 96. 

The States of the kingdom shall appoint at each diet a man dis- 
tinguished for his learning in the laws and his integrity, who in the 
capacity of their attorney, and according to their instructions, shall 
watch that the judges and employes comply with the respective rules 

22* 



514 Appendix. 

and regulations, and who shall prosecute, before the proper tribunals 
and in due form of law, such as in the excercise of their duties 
commit illegalities by being partial, showing regard for individuals, 
or otherwise, and who neglect the faithful performance of their 
duties. Such attorney shall, nevertheless, be subject entirely to the 
same obligations which are prescribed by the code and proceedings to 
be observed by the public prosecutors. 

Section 108. 

For the better maintaining the freedom of the press, the States 
shall nominate at each diet six men famous for their intelligence and 
learning, with the procurator of justice, who will preside in their 
assembhes. These mandatories, of whom two besides the proctor of 
justice are to be lawyers, shall have the following functions : If an 
author or a printer personally delivers to them a manuscript intended 
for the press, and asks their opinion on the law relative to the 
freedom of the press in case of a prosecution, then the proctor of jus- 
tice and at least three mandatories, one of whom to be a lawyer, 
shall give flieir opinion in writing. If they declare that the manu- 
script may be printed, the author and printer shall not be liable to 
any responsibiUty, but the said mandatories shall be held responsible. 
These mandatories are to be elected by the States through the 
medium of six electors chosen by each order wlio have to vote col- 
lectively. If in the interval of the diets one of those mandatories 
should fail (be missing) then the others shall nominate a qualified 
person to fill the vacancy. 

Section 109. 

The parliament shall not continue longer than three months from 
the day when the king will have given to the States or their com- 
mittee, information respecting the condition of the public finances 
and the necessities of the State. If, however, by this time the States 
of the kingdom have not closed the business of the diet, they have 
to inform the king and demand that the diet may be extended to a 
time not longer than one month, which to refuse or prevent the king 
shall not have the power. If, contrary to expectation, it might hap- 
pen that at the expiration of the term of said prolongation the States 
of the kingdom have not settled the condition of the national expen- 
ditures, or if they have been engaged in fixing upon the amount of 
a new subsidy, then shall the king dissolve the States, and the pre- 



Appendix. 515 

vious subsidy shall continue until the next diet. If the total amount 
of the subsidy be determined and the States cannot agree upon the 
repartition, then in accordance with the report of the sum which has 
been fixed upon and that which had been assessed on the preceding 
(?iet. shall tiie articles fixed upon in the last edict of subsidy be raised 
or lessened (diminished) in equal proportion, and the States shall 
commission their deputies to the bank and public debt to draw up 
and dispatch, according to this principle, a new edict of subsidy. 

Section 110. 
No deputy to the diet can be prosecuted by law nor deprived of his 
liberty for his actions and discourses in the assemblies of the orders of 
the kingdom or in the State Committees, unless the order to which he 
belongs have given permission by a formal decision that has been 
acceded to by five- sixths of the members of the order who were 
present when the opinions were given in general assembly. Neither 
can a deputy be sent away from the seat of parliament. If any iudi- 
Tidual or body, whether civil, military, or a party of what name 
soever, either of their own accord or in consequence of an order, 
undertake to pommit violence upon the States of the kingdom or 
their committees, or a deputy in particular, or undertake to injure 
the freedom of their deliberations and decisions, that shall be con- 
sidered as treason, an-d it will depend upon the States to order the 
prosecution by law for such offences. 

Section 111. 

If, however, a deputy during the session of the diet, on his way to 
or his return from the diet, be distured by words or deeds, after hav- 
ing given information as to his destination, such a case will be 
regarded and punished as an offence against the public safety. 

Section 112, 

No employe nor functionary s.hall improperly, and by authority of 
his office, exert his influence upon the elections of deputies. If any 
one is doing so he shall forfeit his place. 

Section 113. 

The mandatories charged with the assessments, and with the appli- 
cation of the dispositions concerning the subsidies, shall not be liable 
to any responsibility for their assessments. "V 



4 

616 Appendix. 



Section 114. 

The king will maintain all the States of the kingdom in the enjoy- 
ment of their privileges, advantages, rights and liberties. 

In witness whereof we have agreed to confirm, accept and sanction 
this act, signing and affixing thereto our names and seals. Given at 
Stockholm on the sixth day of June in the year of grace 1809. 

On the part of the Order of the Nobility, 

M. Ankarsvard, h. t. Marshal of the Diet. 
On the part of the Order of the Clergy, 

Iac. Ax. Lindblom, Speaker. 
On the part of the Order of the Bourgeoisie, 

H. N. Schvan, h. t. Speaker 
On the part of the Order of the Peasants, 

La.rs Olsson, h. t. Speaker. 

All that is herein prescribed, we will not only ourselves accept as 
the inviolable fundamental law, but we command and order all those 
who owe faith, respect and obedience to us and our successors, as well 
as to the kingdom, to acknowledge the present (actual) form of govern- 
ment, to observe it, and to conform and submit themselves to the same. 
In testimony whereof we have signed and confirmed this act by our 
own hand, and have avowedly hereto affixed our royal seal' 
Dated in our residence at Stockholm on the sixth day of the month 
of June, in the year of grace 1809. 

Charles. 



CHARLES L. BRACE's WORKS. IT 

f^jjnrte iCnring Skm's Wnib. 

HUNQARY IN 1851, 

WITH AN EXPERIENCE OP THE AUSTRIAN POLICE. 

BY OHARLEB LOBING BRACE. 

1 vol., 12mo., cloth. Price $1 25. 

The author of this book, a young American, made apedesti-ian tour over a consider- 
jie portion of Europe. He reached Hungary not long after the suppression of the 
Revolution. Here he was brought into contact with the people of every class and grade, 
and was enabled to form a more intimate acquaintance with them than has been made 
by any other traveller who has written in our language. His intimacy with the inhabit- 
ants excited the suspicions of the Austrian Authorities, and he was arrested and thrown 
into prison as a revolutionary agent. He, however, found means to make his condition 
known to our minister at Vienna, through whose interposition he was at length released 
and conducted out of the country. 

" Upon the particular field of Hungary, this is by far the most complete and reliable 
work in the language ; a work that all should read who would understand the institutions, 
the character, and the spirit of a people who just now have so urgent a claim on our 
sympathy." — N. Y. Independent. 

" There is probably not a work within the reach of the English scholar that can afford 
him such a satisfactory view of Hungary as it now is, as this work of Mr. Brace," — 
Christian Intelligencer. 

" It is a graphic picture of the people and institutions of Hungary at the present moment 
by one who writes what he saw and heard, and who was well qualified to judge." — Troy 
DaAl/y Post. 



HOME LIFE IN QERMANY. 

EMBRACING A PICTURE OF THE SOCIAL LIFE, CONVERSATIONS, MODES OF 
THOUGHT, HABITS, STYLE OF LIVING, ETC., OF THE GERMANS. 

BY CHARLES LORING BRACE. 

1 vol., 12mo., cloth. Price $1 25. 

This agreeable volume introduces the reader into the very heart of German life in all 
its pleasant varieties. He takes his seat with the author at the breakfast-table ; enters 
into a German dinner conversation, discusses art and social life with professors, students, 
and i'ntelligent women ; walks over a pleasant Holstein farm ; talks with mechanics and 
merchants at Hambui-g, and Berlin, and Dresden ; visits the universities, smokes and 
drinks with the students in all due moderation. In no way, short of making just such a 
visit as the author did, can an American gain so good an acquaintance with the home 
life of that people who are now adding more largely than any other to the population of 
our Western States. 

" Having travelled over large portions of the country on foot, and mingling freely with 
the inhabitants in their houses, the author relates his various experiences, many of which 
are sufficiently strange to figure in a romance." — N. F, Tribione. 



